Black Magic
by SweetAmberkins
Summary: Senior year for the Sons of Ipswich means great fun all round, until mysterious happenings and strange people start showing up in Ipswich. One mysterious stranger is a girl. They suspect the worst of her, but it turns out she is there to help them out in what could be a fight for their Covenant. Full summary inside. Reid/OC.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning of the Power

**27/09/2011**

**Hey everyone! Please enjoy this fanfic of mine! I appreciate the reviews, and love the comments! I reply to all signed reviews, so please feel free to leave one :) If you notice a misspelling/time paradox/general mistake, please feel free to tell me :D**

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Senior year for the Sons of Ipswich means great fun all round, until mysterious happenings and strange people start showing up in Ipswich. One mysterious stranger is a girl. They suspect the worst of her, but it turns out she is there to help them out in what could be a fight for their Covenant.

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The Power…no one knows how it came to be, even the Book of Damnation never recorded it origins. The Power was mastered by few, but feared by many more. This lead to the Witch Trials of 1692; in which many bloodlines of infamous witches met their end. Some witches of Ipswich formed a covenant. Many other witches in many other towns formed covenants of their own, but none went higher than the five families of Ipswich. The five families of Ipswich formed a binding covenant, to keep them safe, but one member was banished for his lust after more power, and he was soon prosecuted for being a follower of the craft. After those dark days of witch history, things went quiet. The Witch Hunt died out when everyone thought the witches were dead. The books were written and history was wrongly recorded. The families came out of hiding and merged back into society. Modern times have led people to believe that there is no such thing as sorcery or magic, but fortunately they don't visit towns like Ipswich.

Monday morning started off as any other day of the new school year. The Sons of Ipswich, the four living relatives of the founders of Ipswich, were sitting on the front steps of Spencer Academy. They were finally in their senior year, and were counting down the days to their graduation. The beginning of the school year brought with it new students, and at most there were a handful of newbie's wondering up the front steps. Most of the returning students had attended the 'end of summer' party the Saturday night before, and most were still somewhat fatigued.

Caleb, the all-round nice guy and star student; was sitting next to the youngest of the group, Tyler, the baby-faced sweetheart. They greeted the returning students, and offered directions to the new ones.

Pogue, the biker boy and jock of the group, paid little attention to his friends alongside him. He watched the new kids as they stared in awe at his bike; an egotistical smile spread across his face.

Reid, the schemer, player and universal punk, was doing what he did best…Charming girls. Or trying to, at least.

"Aww come on honey. You know you haven't seen baby blues like mine." Reid wolf-whistled at a freshman girl going up the stairs. The girl looked down at him and scoffed, before following her friend into the entrance hall and laughing him off.

"Give it a rest Reid; you'll have plenty of time to chat up girls, especially when you don't do any work." Tyler joked, nudging Reid hard on the shoulder.

"Oh is that so?" Reid gaped and punched Tyler on the arm. Caleb laughed as he watched Tyler and Reid go at it, to the many stares of passing students. Tyler was so blatantly blunt about everything, that it was almost a laughing point on its own. Reid pulled Tyler into a chokehold and ruffled his hair with his knuckles as hard as he could. A rumble descended on the school yard, a rumble that sounded vaguely like Pogue's bike. Reid froze in place, with Tyler still under his arm, and looked in the same direction as Caleb and Pogue. A midnight blue and black bike pulled up alongside Pogue's yellow and black bike. The rider was still wearing their helmet and leathers.

"Another new student? This must be a new record for Spencer." Caleb sounded astonished to say the least.

"New student, new money…probably a brat either way." Pogue concluded with a snide note, turning his head away for moment. The rider climbed off their bike and headed towards the stairs. The four of them frowned as they tried to make if the figure was a man or woman.

"That's a damn nice bike, almost like yours, Pogue." Tyler spoke over his shoulder to Pogue. He must've spoken a bit too loudly, as the helmeted rider looked over in their direction.

"That's the bike that I couldn't get. I couldn't find _one_ place that sold them." Pogue frowned and looked away from the bike standing next to his own. Tyler slapped Pogue on the shins and laughed.

"You can't get mad just because someone else _could_ find them." Tyler shook his head and looked ahead of him again. They lost track of the biker for a second, then the rider stood right next to them.

"You shouldn't believe everything that's plastered on the internet. They never went into production." A rather jubilant voice announced to them. The boys froze for a second before looking up at the rider. A girl stood over them, hand on her hip. An _average_ girl would not be on a bike, let alone a girl like the one they saw. She was beautiful; long golden-blonde tresses, bright grey eyes, pale rosy skin and soft curves. She was definitely not the stereotyped girl that rode a motorbike.

"Never went into production? Then why were there so many rumours about it being released?" Pogue bit back rather harshly.

"That's all they were…rumours. _Unfounded_ rumours." She bit back at him.

"Then tell me, how is it that you have one standing right there, when they were never built?" Pogue frowned at her sceptically, leaning back to look up at her.

"Another day, maybe. But for now, if you'll excuse me, I must go collect my school uniform." She nodded at the boys before carrying on up the stairs.

"Hot biker girl with attitude. Hotness just went up ten points." Reid made a mental note of what he'd just said, with a thoughtful smile.

"Rich spoilt brat, with a daddy that has connections." Pogue added to Reid's mental list.

"Hey, cool it down. Spencer is _run_ by rich brats." Reid added with a laugh. Pogue rolled his eyes at Reid and the others. Everyone else knew that Pogue was now in a difficult mood, and would not be happy for the rest of the day. Ten minutes of uneasy silence dragged by as the first school bell for the year rang out across the campus. The students filtered into the huge wooden doors ready for the first classes of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

The first class had barely started when the many students of senior year received their first scolding.

"Sit, sit, SIT!" The teacher fumed, causing red spots in his cheeks. The students that were standing were now seated firmly, awaiting their next set of instructions.

"Take out your reference material for Anthony and Cleopatra. Act one, scene one" The teacher announced, and turned to write on the board. A deep sigh and a rustling of paper moved through the class; they had expected the first day to be a bit more easy going. No one really paid attention when there was a knocking on the door and two students came in. The teacher stopped for a moment to peer over at the pair of students that just walked in. He grabbed their yellow notes of school admission and read them over.

"Please welcome two _more_ new students to senior year, Chase Collins and Annabelle Rainer." The teacher droned on in the most unexcited tone that he could muster. He put the notes on a spike on his desk and pointed out two empty spots in the fourth and fifth rows of the class room. Chase naturally took the seat next to a bunch of blushing and giggling girls, while Annabelle had to stick to the seat with the boys…the four boys she had seen earlier on the front steps. She slipped into her seat, next to the blonde.

"Hi there again, guys…" She said softly. She peered over at the books on the table in front of them, and took out her own study material. Caleb and Tyler gave her a small wave, Pogue didn't budge, but Reid turned wholly in his seat to face her.

"Starting quite early isn't he?" She asked quietly with a joking tone, pointing her thumb towards the teacher. Caleb and Tyler smiled at her, but once again, Pogue said nothing. They all looked back at their books, except Reid, who still sat facing Annabelle. He ran his finger along his top lip and leant over to whisper to her.

"Well you know teachers; they're there to make our lives a little more…boring." Reid smiled as he pulled back. Annabelle smiled at him and opened her book on the same place as his.

"I'm Reid by the way. And he's Tyler, Caleb and Pogue." Reid pointed out each of his friends and then stuck out his hand for her. She nodded and placed her hand in his.

"Anna. Don't call me Annabelle. It's a little old-fashioned." She smiled back at him. They were still in mid-handshake when the teacher spotted them and called them out.

"Reid and the new girl! Seen as though you have _so_ much to say to each other, would you be so kind as to read us the first dialogue between Anthony and Cleopatra, starting with line 14?" The teacher ordered with a smug smile. Reid hung his head in embarrassment, while Anna tried her best not to laugh at him. Anna picked up her book and continued to read as instructed.

"_If it be love indeed, tell me how much."_ Anna spoke so convincingly, that even the teacher sat back and listened for a while. Reid picked up his book, tried to stop his laughter and complied as well.

"_There's beggary in the love that can be reckoned."_ Reid attempted keep the laughter at bay, but it came out in a stifled cough.

"_I'll set a bourn how far to be loved."_ Anna read again, making Reid calm down enough for his next line.

"_Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth."_ Reid read the next line, with a surprisingly straight face. The teacher clicked his fingers for them to stop.

"Ok. Annabelle, surprisingly good and in depth. Reid, take things more seriously. But that's enough embarrassment for you two troublemakers…continue to read until act one, scene three.

Anna and Reid looked at each other and tried their best not to laugh.

"Well done Reid; got to keep those giggles down though."

"It really doesn't help that I didn't know what the hell I was reading though." Reid sounded joking about it, but he was serious. Anna shook her head at him and continued to read. After an hour's worth of reading the set of study material, and random pop-quiz questions and explanations; the bell finally rang for the next class. The students headed down the hall to the science laboratory. They all went in and stood in front of the blinding white class. The long benches were lined with tiny bottles of solutions and chemicals, ready for experimenting. The teacher came out the store room and headed up the class, with a clipboard on hand.

"I will be pairing you according to your grades; one good partner with a more scientifically challenged partner. No exchanges in the first month of the term. Alright, Wenham and Tunney together in the first group." He pointed to the first bench, and two girls emerged from the crowd and sat on the tall laboratory chairs at their bench.

"Rainer and Simms." The teacher called out the next pair, and pointed to the bench right behind the first two girls. Anna came out the crowd and sat at the bench assigned to her. She waited to see who her partner was going to be. The crowd parted and baby-faced guy that sat next to Reid emerged.

"Ah. So you must be the better half of this team-up…" Tyler rolled his eyes, but said it in a light-hearted tone.

"You're Reid's friend, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. The name's Tyler." Tyler held out his hand for a handshake.

"Just call me Anna. I guess we're lab partners." Anna shook his hand and smiled.

"Well, at least for a guaranteed month." Tyler joked. Anna smiled, but looked a little hurt, which made Tyler laugh.

"I'm just joking. I highly doubt I'd change, if you can help me get my grades up by even one point, I'm staying right here." Tyler pulled out his chair and sat down.

"Well in that case…here's to partnership, and your better grades." Anna reached out and gave Tyler a high-five which made them both feel a little more at ease. Reid and Caleb were sitting at the bench three tables back and across. Tyler was usually so shy around girls, but not around Anna. Caleb and Reid both took note of that before sitting down.


	3. Chapter 3

After Chemistry, it was time for recess. Anna wandered down the hall to the cafeteria and grabbed a tray at the door. She moved down the line, grabbed a bowl of fruit salad and yoghurt, and headed to an empty table closest to the windows. She put her tray down and looked out the window, watching the few people that decided to go outside during recess rather than stay inside. She sighed deeply and opened her tub of yoghurt and poured it over her fruit salad. She had thought she'd at least have someone sitting at the table with her, not sitting by herself. She picked up her bowl and began to eat, while watching the people outside with their horseplay.

"Hi…" A girl spoke to Anna. Anna jumped a little and looked over her table at two girls standing opposite her. The one had blonde, straight, hair; and she was quite shorter than the girl next to her; but she had a sweet face, light skin and wide blue eyes. The other girl was caramel skinned, as tall as Anna herself, with beautiful, wavy black hair and deep brown eyes. She was sure that these were the two girls who sat in front of her in Chemistry. The dark haired girl spoke again.

"Hi…can we sit here?"

Anna nodded and moved to sit straighter in her seat. They both took the seats opposite to her, and the brunette smiled.

"You're the one that just read in English, right?"

"Yes. The trouble maker." Anna joked.

"Yeah, the teacher gets like that sometimes. Well I'm Kate, and this is Sarah. She also just transferred in, so you got something in common."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Anna." Anna smiled at them both.

"Nice name. Where did you transfer from?" Sarah asked.

"Uh…New York." Anna smiled and nodded.

"Must be pretty different here for you, away from the city living and all?" Sarah asked again.

"Yeah, but I like it. It's considerably quieter here." Anna answered with a smile. Kate leaned in a little closer over the table, and spoke in a whisper to Anna.

"We hear that you moved into the old castle outside town…?" Kate left her answer hanging, for Anna to finish.

"Yeah, it's nice. A little dusty, but…yeah. Big and spacious." Anna didn't know what else to say, so she stopped a little awkwardly.

"So did your parents buy the place, or are they renting?" Kate asked again and Sarah leaned in closer too. Anna was intrigued that they both wanted to know so much about her so quickly.

"I'm just looking after the place. I know the owners. They wanted someone to stay in it while they're overseas. They were grateful when they heard I transferred to Spencer, so they let me stay there." She spoke quickly and furiously, wondering if they actually believed her lie.

"Well, there have been rumours for years that the owners left it destitute because it's haunted." Kate added more seriously.

"Nope. People have probably been hearing the drafty wind going through the house. It does sound kind of creepy."

Kate and Sarah laughed lightly before sitting back in their chairs and getting back to eating their lunch.


	4. Chapter 4

After recess, Anna and Sarah followed Kate to the indoor swimming pool's locker room. The gym class usually filled two lessons instead of one, which made for longer practice for the swimming team. Spencer Academy had the best swimming team in the state, and that meant it was the compulsory sport unless you chose something else. The senior class filled the swimming arena, the guys whistled at the girls as they entered from their locker room. There were some whispers that flowed through the crowd, judging by the sounds of it, something strange was happening. Two trainers stood in front of the class on the diving platforms, ready to address the class.

"Alright ladies, as you can see we have two trainers this year. The school board decided that there should be different coaches for…gender equality. And so here we have Coach Hart for the girls and me, Coach Lyre for the boys." Coach Lyre announced loudly, and rather annoyed by the fact. Coach Hart smiled sweetly and turned to the class and spoke loudly.

"Girls in lanes one to four, and boys five to eight. Everybody into groups of five." She spoke louder than what seemed possible for her tiny frame. The boys defaulted into groups, but the girls made it into a chance to gossip and find their best teams.

"Come on everyone! Relay laps for warm up. If you don't like it you could always join the soccer team." Lyre shouted, clapping his hands for attention. The first person in every group got onto the diving platform and got ready to dive. Coach Lyre held his whistle at the ready, but Coach Hart spoke quickly before he blew it.

"Remember girls, you don't have to beat the boys." Hart shouted.

Coach Lyre blew his whistle, and everyone dived. Everyone swum their own preferred stroke, and for most it was freestyle. The girls were doing well, but the boys were doing better. Kate, Anna and Sarah were in a group with two other girls. Anna was up next after Kate touched down. Anna got up on the platform and got ready to dive. She quickly looked across her lanes and noticed the bad-tempered biker boy, Pogue, who she'd told off that morning. He was only one platform away from her.

"Oh, I'm going to make your day…" Anna said sarcastically, more for herself than anyone else, but Sarah heard her.

"What did you say?" Sarah asked quickly.

"Nothing, it's not important." Anna answered as quickly. She watched Pogue's lane. Reid touched down and Pogue dived in. Kate seemed to be dragging on now. She was only two strokes away. Kate touched the side, and Anna was in. Pogue was a fast swimmer, and Anna was good for a girl. In the two strokes difference between them, Anna had caught up with Pogue and was making time with him before they reached the other side. They reached the turn and Anna put in extra push into the turn to get a head start. By the time she had surfaced again, she was just a stroke ahead of Pogue. On each alternate stroke, she heard some cheering from the crowd. Anna touched down two strokes ahead of Pogue, and Sarah was in the pool. The few girls above her head were cheering and pulled her out the pool, taking her over to a bench. She gasped for breath and nodded at the congratulations coming her way. Coach Hart came around and spoke to Anna, sitting beside her for a moment.

"That was amazing! Do you always swim like that?" Coach Hart asked, seemingly aghast.

"Well…if you do something…gotta do it right…" Anna gasped between a few words.

"You should sign up for the team. We could use a champ like you." Coach Hart finished off, and Anna nodded. Coach Hart smiled and then stood up and carried on shouting at the girls. As soon as no one was paying attention to her anymore, she stopped gasping like she was out of breath. But it didn't go unnoticed. Caleb, Reid and Pogue were standing a few yards away, and they immediately noticed that she stopped breathing so heavily. Caleb turned to Pogue and Reid and frowned.

"You did just see that, right?" Caleb asked, still frowning. Pogue nodded in agreement to his underlying tone.

"Maybe she just caught her breath?" Reid shrugged.

"Yeah, whatever. No one beats me in swimming without at least some huffing and puffing." Pogue added snidely.

"Maybe you're losing your touch, Parry." Reid jabbed back. Pogue frowned in anger and Caleb jumped in before they started really going at it.

"It's not just that. Maybe she _is_ just good at swimming. But there's something _weird_ about her. Her name is odd for these times…and really _familiar_."

Reid and Pogue thought for a moment, but Reid shrugged it off.

"Maybe it's just one of _those_ names. Heck, I'm sure some people walk up to us and think they've heard of _us_ before." Reid shrugged and partially turned away from them.

"She's hiding _something_." Caleb said softly, as he watched her talking to Coach Hart and putting her name up for the team.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, Pogue, but Rainer sounds _way_ too familiar for my liking."

Reid and Pogue snapped back to attention as they were catching on to what he was saying. Tyler joined the group right after his lap, and stood in their group. Tyler quickly caught up on what they were saying, and added in his bit of opinion.

"Come on, she's new. Maybe she's just trying to make a good impression."

"That only explains the swimming, Tyler, not the other stuff. There's something weird about her. It's like…she's emitting energy." Caleb added. Tyler looked at the other two and raised his eyebrows. The other two were just as stumped by what Caleb had said.


	5. Chapter 5

The end of the day came quickly after that, much to the relief of the tired seniors. The students hurried out of the building as quickly as they could, heading for their cars, carpools or the dorms down the road. Anna followed the crowd out, in her leather jacket and jeans, carrying her helmet and a rucksack. She greeted Kate and Sarah before going down the steps and climbing onto her bike. Kate saw Pogue emerge from the school's front doors and ran up the stairs to kiss him on the lips.

"How's your day been?" She asked, running her hands down his arms.

"Fine. What does she do with her uniform?" Pogue asked, pointing at Anna. Kate turned around to see who he was referring to.

"Oh, she puts it in her rucksack with her books for homework. She gets dressed here. Can't ride a bike in a skirt, now can she?" Kate laughed, putting her arms around Pogue's neck.

"I'll see you a bit later." Kate smiled at Pogue and kissed him again; and then ran down the stairs to Sarah and Chase, who were talking to each other while waiting for her. Pogue watched Chase through slit eyes as he walked towards the dorms with his girlfriend. Caleb walked up behind Pogue and hit him on the shoulder.

"Come on, she's just walking with him to his room." Caleb laughed jokingly; Pogue just grumbled in response. Caleb noticed that Anna was still there, and she was only really now starting to adjust her helmet for the ride. She quickly switched on her bike and revved it once, before reversing out into the street. She waved at the boys once before heading down the road at breakneck speed. Pogue reversed out after her and headed towards the dorms. Caleb then turned to Tyler and Reid, and gave them both a serious look.

"Do me a favour tonight and research her. Check your family libraries. If you don't find anything, then we'll go to the school library. I just want to find something." Caleb told them both softly. Tyler, being ever obedient, nodded immediately; Reid frowned and shook his head at Caleb.

"You can't be serious? All this over swimming?" Reid asked, his face still slightly shocked.

"I told you it's not just swimming, Reid. It's _more_ than that. She gives off the weirdest vibes."

Reid and Caleb stared hard at each other for a solid minute before Tyler jumped in.

"We'll do it, Caleb. But we gotta get back to the dorm and get changed before heading home."

Reid twitched an eyebrow at Caleb before Tyler pushed him down the stairs. Tyler waved to Caleb before heading towards his car; Reid disappeared without a second glance. Tyler drove his Hummer down the same road as Pogue. Caleb stood on the stairs alone, wondering if Reid would do as he was told. He knew Tyler would always do as he was told, as long as there was reason, but Reid was the loose canon. The day that Reid agreed with Caleb, or even did something he asked, would be a cold day in hell. Caleb couldn't force Reid to do anything, but he was hoping, in vain, that maybe Reid's common sense would slap him just once. Caleb shook his head and headed down to his car and got in. If it really came down to it, he could find something on his own. He started his Mustang and headed home.


	6. Chapter 6

Friday hit the students so quickly, it took them by surprise. Everyone, that is, except Caleb. A darkling had gotten to Caleb and Pogue during the week, and they had no idea who had sent it after them; but it had kept them on edge for most of the week. Caleb had spent every night since Monday trying to research Anna and her family history, but his family library was now dwindling down to the last few books. Even now, as he sat in Mathematics, he was still watching Anna as carefully as he could. But there were other times that he couldn't keep track of her. He thought that it would be better to start his research over in the school's library, which was much more vast than his own. And as the last resort, Caleb would search the internet. He knew that there would always be something on the net, but he always left it for last as he was never sure of how reliable some sites were. He made a resolution to start in the school library as soon as he was done with swimming practice. Tyler and Reid hadn't gotten much further than he had, not that Reid even tried. All Reid was interested in was trying to get Anna interested in him, and according to him, each day was going better than the last. As the last bell of the day rang, the students packed up and headed to their selected destinations. The newly selected swimming team headed to the indoor pool's locker room to get changed for practice. Caleb was not looking forward to the practice session, especially since he lacked some much needed sleep. After that, he hoped that finding what he wanted in the library would be easy. Caleb headed to the locker room, when Reid cut in front of him just short of the doorway. He was waving something above his head, but Caleb couldn't make out what it was.

"I got it! I still got the _stuff_, man!" Reid shouted, jumping up and punching the air. Tyler jumped up and gave him a high five.

"Sweet! You think it was worth the amount of time you took to get it?" Tyler asked, putting his bag in his locker. Caleb was now interested in what they were talking about, and moved a little closer.

"Well that, and hopefully a lot more my friend." Reid flashed a sly smile at Tyler and stuck a piece of paper in the front zip of his satchel. Caleb walked over to Reid's locker and looked at his bag curiously.

"And what is it that you got?" Caleb asked, looking from the bag to Reid.

"You interested to find out, Danvers?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't, dipshit."

Reid frowned for a split second, before smiling again.

"I got Anna's phone number. Jealous?"

Caleb turned and went to his locker, waving it off.

"Nah, I got Sarah's number anyway." Caleb bit back at Reid.

Reid swore silently at Caleb's back, while showing off to the other guys that he got Anna's phone number. They got changed and headed to the pool for practice. Some of the other girls and guys were already there, waiting for the coaches. Reid, Caleb and Tyler headed to the benches at the end of the pool, wondering where Pogue was. To their surprise, he was the only guy already swimming. He was probably doing laps to brush up on his time, to show up Anna. Reid suddenly stood, and had a stupid grin on his face. Caleb looked in same direction Reid was, and saw why. Anna had just come out of the locker room, busy fixing her hair up to go into her swimming cap. Reid was obviously paying attention to every visible detail on her body while she sauntered to the end of the pool. She sat down on the edge, and put her legs in the water. Reid snapped his head straight and walked over to her. Caleb and Tyler sat and watched Reid as he went to talk to her.

"Reckon he'll screw up?" Tyler asked Caleb.

"Anything is possible with Reid."

They watched as Reid approached Anna. He was completely calm now, no stupid smirk or anything. Anna looked up at Reid as soon as he approached, still fixing her hair into her cap. Reid was explaining something to her, and she nodded with a smile. Reid went back the Caleb and Tyler with a smile on his face.

"And?" Tyler asked, barely containing his curiosity.

"She's playing hard to get. But she'll budge, I'm sure she'll come later." Reid smirked, taking his previous seat on the bench.

"She'll come later…to where?" Caleb asked.

"Nicky's. She said she's busy, but curiosity will get her…just like it's gotten you two." Reid joked, glancing over at Anna again. Caleb followed Reid's gaze to Anna. The more he thought about it, the more he thought he was crazy. She seemed so normal, just like every other girl in their grade, but something was still wrong. Every time he'd try to sense her energy, it would get cut off. Normal humans couldn't do that, and he could sense every person in this room just by their energy…except her. She was like a ghost.

"Attention! Attention kids!" Coach Lyre shouted. He and Coach Hart had emerged from their office, and called the kids to them.

"There will no longer be any official practices on Fridays, but as always, the pool will always be open to those who wish to practice for extra hours. You may stay for this lesson, or you can go home. The new swimming schedule will be up on the notice board on Monday." Coach Hart and Coach Lyre told their teams respectively. Almost everyone had departed from the pool area, except the four of them and Anna. Caleb was expecting Anna to stay, to maybe show Pogue up again, but she got up and pulled off her swimming cap. She walked up to Reid with a smile on her face.

"Well, it looks like I _might_ be able to join you guys tonight. If I go home now and work, I should have enough time for a little partying." Anna looked at Reid, waiting for an answer.

"Sure. See you tonight maybe." Reid nodded casually, but couldn't stop a smile from appearing.

"See you later." Anna waved to him as she walked away, trying to loosen her hair from its ponytail.

"Damn…look at those legs. Best pair ever…" Reid tilted his head sideways, and bit his bottom lip as he watched her walk away.

"I'm amazed anyone would ever consider dating you…" Caleb sighed, and smacked Reid over the head.

"Come on, I'm dateable…I think." Reid frowned at Caleb.

"Yeah, and we all know what you _think_ is very minimal indeed." Tyler joked. Reid frowned and smacked Tyler over the head.

"I'm heading to the library, do some research…"

"You're still on that are you, Caleb? The whole 'Anna' thing?" Reid asked, his temper going up slightly.

"Nah, I'm just getting a head start on that chemistry project for next month." Caleb lied easily, which seemed to satisfy Reid.

"Ok, we'll see you at Nicky's then?" Reid asked both Caleb and Pogue.

"Sure. See you later."

Tyler and Reid headed to the locker room to get changed, but Caleb stayed behind and talked to Pogue, who had just gotten out the water.

"Still going to see into the whole 'Anna' thing, aren't you?" Pogue asked, towelling off his face.

"Yep, so don't give me the lecture about not doing it." Caleb almost bit back.

"Cool it, Caleb. I'm going with you. This whole week she's been…like off the radar. Like she's _dead_."

"You too? Guess Reid and Tyler haven't sensed that as much as we have."

"Maybe they're just not doing it right. But the point is, we gotta see what we're dealing with, if anything." Pogue nodded, and wrapped his towel around his waist. Caleb nodded and the headed back to the locker room to get changed.


	7. Chapter 7

Caleb checked into the library by himself, as Pogue was still busy showering and getting changed. He put his bag down at an empty desk with a computer and wandered down the aisles looking for a relevant book. This library was well over anything any of their family libraries. The library housed more than 100,000 books, but most were school related. He stood frozen in the history section, staring at the books in front of him. It would take far too much time for Pogue and himself to find anything. He went to the library archive computer and typed in her surname, to see what books had relevant results. As he stood staring at the screen, Pogue joined him.

"Got anything yet?" Pogue asked, peering over Caleb's shoulder at the screen.

"Yeah, a few. Let me just get these books, give me a minute. You can check the internet if you want." Caleb pointed Pogue to the open desk with the computer that Caleb had picked out earlier. Pogue sat down and started searching, while Caleb looked for the books. He found three of the most relevant books, and he recognised one of them. He took them to the desk and put them on the table next to Pogue.

"Recognise this one?" Caleb asked, holding up a leather bound book for Pogue to see.

"Yeah. History of Ipswich. Is her name in there?"

"Yip, apparently it's in the index." Caleb frowned, and looked at the page the index was referring to. Pogue carried on searching the internet, while Caleb read some of the books.

"Anything significant about Anna?" Caleb asked Pogue while paging through the books.

"Well, tons about the one from 1692, just about nothing from the present one. She won a design challenge in New York last year for motorbikes. The reason why she has _that_ bike is because it was her prototype." Pogue pouted slightly, and carried on reading to Caleb.

"Well, here's the 1692 Annabelle Rainer. She looks just like this Anna…" Pogue pointed out the article to Caleb, and he stopped reading for a second.

"Wow, she sure does. Family resemblance for sure. That confirms some type of family relation." Caleb mumbled, and then looked back to his book. As he read further on, he came across the gory subject of the Salem Witch Hunt. He paged on through, and got to the interesting parts. He recognised his covenant's names amongst the many, but Anna's was there as well.

"Check this Pogue. _'Annabelle Rainer, granddaughter of the founder of Rowley, wife of Jonathan Rainer, almost suffered prosecution in the Salem Witch Trials. Highly reputable sources testified against the fact, namely the greatly esteemed Theodore Danvers of the neighbouring town of Ipswich.'_ Why haven't I noticed this before?" Caleb sat back in his chair, a little stumped.

"We weren't exactly looking for something like this when we were kids learning the craft at camp. But seriously, your great granddad covered for her great grandma in the trials? That's a big flashing sign over her head that she was a witch and I guess that puts some sort of approval on Anna. Looks like we come a lot further than we'd care to admit." Pogue stopped searching on the internet, and switched off the computer.

"Do you think that she'd be capable of sending us that darkling? She doesn't seem the type, because that shit takes a little piece of you with it." Pogue asked Caleb.

"I don't think she would, you're right, using that type of dark magic eats at you. It couldn't have been her. But what are we supposed to do with this? Should we tell Reid and Tyler? I'd love to see the look on Reid's face when he hears this"

"Wait a minute. Let's just keep this quiet. Maybe she never learnt the craft. But if she gets a gist on us like we did on her, and looks us up, guess she's going to find out the same about us as we did about her." Pogue told Caleb in all seriousness. Caleb nodded in thought. Pogue was right, if they had told Reid or Tyler, they'd let something slip to Anna, no matter how subtle.

"You're right. Let's keep this to ourselves for now."

"You know what, Caleb, it might just be coincidence. Maybe she's just weird like that." Pogue shrugged, standing up and grabbing his bag.

"Either way, just keep an eye one her. Let's make sure she isn't up to something." Caleb nodded to Pogue, and picked up his own bag.

"Sure thing, but right now there's a little place called Nicky's waiting for us." Pogue smirked, walking out the library with Caleb. Caleb looked at his watch and saw the time was already half past five. He headed down to his car and waved off to Pogue.

"See you later." Caleb called loudly enough for Pogue to hear.

"Yeah, keep an eye out for Anna. She's probably going to go past your house to the pub." Pogue answered. Caleb nodded and jumped into his car, and headed home.


	8. Chapter 8

After Caleb had changed out of his uniform, he headed back out to Nicky's. As he carried on down the road, he noticed Anna's blue and black bike stopped at the crossroads ahead of him. He came to a stop slowly, and Anna popped her visor to speak to Caleb.

"Decided to come after all?" Caleb asked, leaning out of his window a little.

"Yeah. I didn't have that much work to do after all. So I guess I can see the Ipswich nightlife."

"You look a little lost; can I show you the way?" Caleb asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Thanks Caleb. I'll be right behind you." Anna put her visor back down and waited for Caleb. Caleb pulled out in front of her and headed down the road to the town centre. Every so often he'd gaze back into his rear-view mirror, to see what Anna was doing. Anna was anything but reckless. Pogue was overly reckless on his bike, for obvious reasons, and most people her age would be barrelling down the road like no tomorrow. But Anna was so responsible, it was actually boring. Caleb put it all down to his mere presence, because she _never_ drove the speed limit when leaving school. Caleb pulled up in front of the pub, and saw Pogue standing in the entrance waiting for him. Anna parked in an open bike parking next to the entrance. As soon as Caleb opened his door, Pogue was next to his car.

"And?" Pogue whispered, nodding to Anna.

"And what?" Caleb whispered back.

"Well, do you think…?"

"She's not going to give it away that easily, Pogue. Give it a few weeks; she's bound to screw up soon." Caleb closed his car door and locked it. Anna switched off her bike and got off. Reid had already appeared in the doorway in his usual punk-casual getup. She took off her helmet and gave Reid a one-armed hug.

"Good to see you came. Finished your work I'm guessing?" Reid asked.

"Pretty much." She answered with a causal shrug.

"Can I take that weight off your hands?" Reid offered, pointing to her helmet. Anna gave it to him with a nod and headed inside with him. Reid put her helmet on the bar, handing it over for safekeeping to the barman. Reid pointed over to the pool tables and disappeared for a moment. Anna spotted Kate and Sarah at a nearby table and joined them. As Kate and Sarah stood to greet Anna, Reid was back at her side.

"Can I get any of you lovely ladies a drink?" Reid asked the three of them. Kate and Sarah shook their heads, but Anna looked at him with a smile.

"Just a coke thanks."

"Coke it is…" Reid spun around and went to the bar to order their drinks. Anna sat down at the table with Kate and Sarah and laughed a little.

"Reid asked you here? You _are_ aware of his reputation right?" Kate laughed, and Sarah seemed intrigued by what she meant.

"Oh, I've heard a bit…" Anna trailed off as Reid came back and handed her a coke. She took it with another smile as he headed off to the pool tables.

"…but it all sounds rather…interesting. He can't be all that bad." Anna finished off, and Kate laughed softly.

"Chances are whatever you heard is probably true. Reid is the most unpredictable guy in _that_ group…but I guess he does grow on you…" Kate said softly, and grabbed some fries from the basket on the table. Anna nodded and sipped on her coke as she glanced over at the pool tables. Tyler and Reid were playing against Aaron and another boy she recognised from school, and Caleb and Pogue were playing foosball against Chase.

"Well, would you look at us? Here we're sitting talking about _them_, and there they are, having fun. Quick, someone give me a quarter…" Sarah looked to Kate and Anna. Anna stuck her hand in her pocket quickly and felt around for some change. She pulled out a handful of quarters and handed them to Sarah.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked.

"Just watch…" Sarah laughed as she headed over to the jukebox and put in the bunch of quarters. Sarah walked over to Caleb and stole him away from Pogue and Chase, and dragged him to the dance floor. Kate soon got a hint and did the same with Pogue, leaving Chase to wander around by himself. Anna now sat at the table alone, bobbing her head along to the music. She sat for a few minutes until she realised that Reid was not catching her drift. She stood up and headed to the bar. She took off her jacket and told the barman to keep it with her helmet. She then walked up to Reid at the pool table, who was shamelessly stealing money off the other two guys. She stepped up right behind him, causing the other two guys to notice her immediately.

"So you invite me here, and leave me at a table. Remind me why I came here again?" Anna asked, without sounding intimidating in the least. Reid turned around and leant against the table with a smile on his face, but his mouth soon fell open when he looked at her. She had kept her jacket on, and with good reason; most of the guys would've been staring. But with it off, they were staring now anyway. Reid gazed at her entire length; she wore tight jeans and a black halter top that showed just the right amount of skin. Reid swallowed hard and tried to speak.

"You came to help me play pool." Reid smiled, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to the table.

"What about Tyler?" Anna asked, picking up Tyler's cue stick.

"It's fine, he'll understand…boys, we have a new player to replace Tyler." Reid spoke to the two guys opposite him. They looked at Anna holding her cue stick, and they burst out laughing.

"Anna? Seriously? You might as well give us twenty bucks now." Aaron laughed out loud, causing the other guy to laugh.

"How about you keep your mouth shut, Aaron, and we put it up to a hundred?" Anna bit back at them. The two of them laughed some more before agreeing to it. Both teams put one hundred dollars on the table, and got ready to play. Aaron let Anna take the first shot, and as she took her spot to shoot, Reid came up next to her and leant in close to her.

"Ok Anna, I'm sure you know how pool works. You hit the white ball to get the others in, aim good and shoot carefully. We're aiming for solids, so it's the balls with the most colour on them, ok?" Reid explained, putting his hand on her back.

"Thanks Reid." Anna looked up at him and smiled, and took a shot. The other two whistled and shouted, hoping to make her miss, but she sunk two in one go, and one more after that. They other two soon shut up, seeing that she wasn't bad in the least. She missed her next shot on purpose and let Aaron shoot.

"You said thanks for the advice? Clearly you didn't need any." Reid smiled wide at Anna.

"I just said thanks, I didn't say what for. I just needed to know if we were solids or stripes." Anna smirked and Reid tried to keep his mouth from falling open again. Aaron missed his shot and then Reid was up. He barely tried to aim, and sank the remaining four solids in one shot. The guys started shouting foul and demanded their money back, which Reid just grabbed off the table.

"Fair game, guys. Never underestimate your opponents. Now I think I'll buy my stunning partner some dinner and maybe take her to the movies with this extra cash." Reid smiled, and put his arm around Anna again.

"You're talking shit Garwin, those balls were all rigged. There's no chance in hell you could sink four balls in one shot. Let's take this out back…" Aaron shouted at Reid.

"You stay here; this will just be a minute." Reid told Anna, and followed Aaron and his friend outside. Two more guys followed the three of them out the back door, and Anna felt like she had to follow them. As Anna started walking for the door, Caleb, Pogue and Tyler cut in front of her.

"Just stay here, it'll be fine." Tyler told her, pushing her to sit on a barstool. Anna gave in and sat on the barstool as the three of them headed outside. She swallowed hard as she thought about what was possibly going to happen.


	9. Chapter 9

Reid was already standing in the courtyard, throwing insults back and forth between the Aaron and his three goons. Caleb jumped the steps two at a time and got between Aaron and Reid.

"Hey Reid, Aaron; just cool it. Couldn't possibly be that bad…?" Caleb spoke calmly to the both of them.

"Your boy here is cheating again, Caleb. You should keep a leash on him, make him play fair." Aaron shouted over Caleb's shoulder at Reid.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Aaron. You're just being a sore loser. It's only a hundred bucks…" Reid laughed it off. Aaron lunged forward for Reid's shirt, and Caleb pushed him back. Meanwhile, inside the bar, Anna was still sitting on the bar stool that Tyler had told her to sit in. She was sitting closest to the door, and could hear everything that was going on outside. When the burly barman grabbed a metal baseball bat and headed outside, she knew that they would stop.

"Is there a problem here?" The barman said calmly, but hit his own hand threateningly.

"No, Nicky. We were just clearing things up." Caleb answered, looking at the others to force them to listen. Aaron swore silently at them and called his guys to follow him back inside. Nicky followed Aaron inside and left Caleb and the others outside. As the boys entered the pub again, Anna put her foot in the door and watched the other four that were still outside.

"Reid, when the hell are you going to get it? You can't use out in the open; you're going to expose us all." Caleb shouted at Reid.

"Come on Caleb, they were suckers for it. It was all just good fun." Tyler jumped in, trying to justify Reid's actions. Anna strained to listen a little more, but it was hard without opening the door wider.

"You think you can boss me around, because you're older and more powerful. Well, when we all ascend, we'll all be on the same level, then what? Huh, Caleb?" Reid threatened Caleb. Reid snapped Caleb's hand in his own, sucking the colour and life out of it instantly. Caleb snapped his hand out of Reid's grasp, and sent him flying across the courtyard and into the alley wall.

"When are you going to get it? It's _addictive_, you moron!" Caleb shouted at him. Reid stood silently and moved his hand over a keg that was lying nearby.

"Might as well do something with it while I can, Caleb. There's no use in being afraid of it, otherwise it'll own us instead of the other way around." Reid seethed and sent the keg flying at Caleb. Anna only half cringed, as she watched Caleb deflect it effortlessly, sending it flying between Tyler and Pogue. Caleb threw his hand back, which sent Reid flying into a stack of empty beer bottles.

"You don't get it, do you? I'm more powerful than you, and you can't change that until you ascend. So until then, you're going to have to listen." Caleb shouted again as Reid pulled himself out of the broken glass.

"I knew it…" Anna whispered to herself and stepped away from the door. She sat back on the bar stool where Tyler left her. Anyone else would think those four boys were on drugs, but Anna knew better. She waved at the barman to get her helmet and jacket ready. Reid was the first one in the door, and spotted Anna right at the end of the bar.

"Well, that took longer than expected. So how about I buy you that dinner I was talking about earlier?" Reid smiled at her casually, as if nothing had just happened outside. At that exact moment, the barman put her jacket and helmet on the counter in front of her, causing Reid to frown.

"I'm sorry Reid, but maybe a rain check on that dinner? Something's come up and I have to go home. I'll see you on Monday?"

"Uh, sure. See you Monday." Reid shrugged. Anna gave him a one armed hug before grabbing her stuff and heading to the door. Her bike started up quickly and screeched down the same road she'd come. Reid stood at the bar, gob smacked, before Tyler came up to him.

"Maybe it was about this glass in your face?" He joked, flicking Reid in the face.

"Shut up Tyler. Let's go play some foosball." Reid snapped, pushing Tyler to the foosball table.


	10. Chapter 10

Monday came after a long and stormy weekend. It had started clouding over once Anna had left the pub on Friday night, and had been raining ever since. Reid had silently been angry at Anna for leaving him so suddenly at the pub, but yet he stood waiting in the entrance hall of Spencer Academy to talk to her. Anna didn't arrive on her bike as she did for the past week, but she arrived in a new silver Mercedes that none of the students recognized. She got out and put her umbrella up just outside the door, grabbed her bag and locked her car, before walking up the front steps to Spencer.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" Reid asked as she entered the door. She jumped and turned around so quickly, almost like it didn't happen. Reid emerged from the wall he was hiding behind and walked up to Anna.

"Why so jumpy?" Reid asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It's nothing. What's up? You wanted to talk…"

"Yeah, why'd you leave so early on Friday night?" Reid watched her for a reaction.

"I just forgot some work. It struck me kind of late." Anna smiled at him, and he nodded. He only half-believed her, but he wasn't going to ask what else she was thinking when she left. They both walked down the corridor to the morning study hall, where most of the students had gathered because of the rain.

"Do you know where Pogue is by any chance?" Anna asked, looking to Reid.

"Yeah, he's in here somewhere…any reason?" Reid asked, trying to hide his shock at her statement. Anna and Pogue hadn't really gotten along since they met, so it stumped him as to why she would be asking him where Pogue was. They turned into the entrance of the study hall, and Reid pointed to the table where Pogue, Tyler and Caleb were sitting.

"You're welcome to come along, if you want to know why." Anna answered, heading to their table. She pulled out the chair next to Pogue and sat down before he could say anything. Reid stood by and watched, wondering if Pogue was going to snap. Pogue stared at Anna for being so presumptuous, and almost spoke before she stopped him

"Wait, before you say anything. I know we aren't exactly on good terms, but there is something I'd like to ask your opinion on. You seem like a bit of a bike enthusiast, so I thought…" Anna stopped, and reached into her bag, scrambling for some paper.

"…you'd like to give me your opinion on these." She finished, laying a few sheets of paper in front of him. Pogue seemed a little shocked; for one, Anna came to sit right next to him when they both knew they weren't exactly friends; and two, that she wanted his opinion on what looked like bike designs.

"Wait…you designed these? You design bikes?" Pogue asked like he didn't already know, looking through the numerous sketches she had.

"Well, I wouldn't say design, because I'm in no way qualified to do so, but I enter the design challenges that the manufacturers host every year. I've been lucky so far to just have won one, so I want to try again this year." Anna explained.

Pogue almost said that he knew that, but then he remembered that he only found that out when they were secretly looking for information about her.

"So is that how you got that motorbike? The one that was never made?" Pogue asked nonchalantly, still looking through the pages.

"Yeah, she's my prototype. But they are going to manufacture them this year, so just keep an eye out." Anna joked, knowing Pogue wanted one. Pogue carried on looking through the designs and picked out a few.

"How many are you allowed to enter? Cause all of them are pretty good."

"Well this year, I get to enter three because I won last year. So, I have my favourites, but I could keep the rest and sell them to the highest bidder."

"Well this one, TW5, has to go in. Maybe some bigger rims. And LK9 is perfect. I'd buy that bike." Pogue stacked all the sketches back together and handed them back to Anna. She slid them into the folder in her bag, and stood up to leave.

"Thanks Pogue."

"Hey, this doesn't exactly make us friends, Anna." Pogue added before she walked away.

"I wasn't counting on it…" Anna nodded, and headed for the door. As soon as she exited the door, the bell rang for class, so she carried on walking towards English. Reid caught up with her just before she entered the classroom.

"So you design bikes." Reid asked, this time without frightening her.

"Well, I try to. But everyone thinks it's a little strange because I'm a girl."

"Hey, I don't. I think it's actually pretty hardcore." He smiled at her. Anna rolled her eyes and entered the classroom, heading for the same seat she had the week before, next to Reid. They took out their books while the classroom was still in a bustle. Anna dropped her books on the desk with a sigh and turned to Reid.

"Do you _really_ think so?" She asked Reid. Reid shot up from his bag and turned to Anna, caught unawares.

"Do I think what?"

Anna shot him a piercing stare, and then he remembered what he'd said to her at the door.

"Oh. Oh yeah, I definitely think so. It's a turn on for a girl to design bikes, especially one like you. I'd buy any bike you'd be riding…" He finished with a devilish smile, which made Anna blush and laugh at the same time.

"Thanks Reid, you made my day." Anna put her hand on his shoulder as a kind gesture. He smiled wickedly and knew what he just said to her had earned him some brownie points.


	11. Chapter 11

The end of the day came up fast, and the swimming team had gone to check the notice on the board for the new swimming hours. The new hours were from three to four, Mondays to Thursdays. Caleb turned around and saw the swimming team behind him.

"Come on guys! We're headed to the pool!" Caleb shouted, and the team followed him to the pool. They headed to the locker room and changed into their Speedos, and then headed to the pool. The girls' swimming team was already there, but they were still in the uniforms. Coach Hart was explaining something to them, and by the end, they all started cheering.

"Well that's interesting…" Reid perked his head up, looking over at the girls' team.

"We'll probably find out soon." Tyler said, smacking Reid on his bare shoulder. Coach Lyre was standing at the end of the pool, waiting for the boys to gather around him. Caleb and the rest followed the crowd and stood around Coach Lyre, waiting for him to speak.

"Everyone here? Good. Boys, we're having a competition here in two weeks time. Practice, as usual, is crucial. So you all better step up and show me what you boys have got." He looked at everyone, searching for any signs of disagreement, but there was mostly confusion. The girls seemed very happy with the news they had gotten, and unless Coach Hart was more convincing in her speech, they didn't understand why the girls had cheered.

"And for that reason, boys, we're getting new team colour Speedos. The girls have already received theirs, but yours is due Wednesday." Coach Lyre finished. The boys shrugged, they knew the girls always wanted new team colour Speedos, but they weren't as excited.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get to the lanes; we're supposed to be practicing!" Coach Lyre shouted at them. They quickly got in even numbered teams and got up on the platform for relay. Coach Lyre stood next to pool and blew his whistle. The boys in each lane dived, and the next one got onto the platform. Caleb got onto his platform, and watched for Pogue. Right next to him was Chase, also ready to get up next. Chase nodded at Caleb, and Caleb returned the courtesy. Caleb looked back to his lane, just in time to see Pogue touch the wall. Caleb dived, and Chase followed him right in after. Chase was swimming freestyle like Caleb, but every time Caleb turned his head, Chase was inching closer to him. On the turn, Chase had made better time, and was right in front of Caleb. For a moment he was distracted by that thought. He was never beaten, that's why he was the swimming captain. Caleb swam as fast as he could push himself, and just before he reached the halfway mark, he was even with Chase. With less than five strokes to reach the end of the pool, Caleb turned his head one last time, at the same time as Chase turned his. He knew what he saw, and he was sure he wasn't hallucinating. Chase's eyes were _black_, midnight black. Caleb didn't know what happened next. A sudden weight hit him, and he sank into darkness. For a few minutes, he was in a cold and dark place, a place he didn't know how to get out of.

"Caleb? Come on, wake up!" A familiar voice cut through the darkness.

"Caleb? Don't you think we should call 911?" He heard the voice again. Caleb cracked open his eyes and noticed five blurry figures above his head, moving ever so slightly.

"Geez Caleb, are you ok?" Another familiar voice asked him. Caleb sat up and rubbed his eyes, forcing his eyes to focus again.

"You're lucky Chase was here to save your butt. You sank like a rock, buddy." Pogue said, giving Chase a congratulatory hit on the shoulder.

"Well, I gotta carry on swimming, so you guys keep an eye on him." Chase said, and the coach followed him back to the poolside. Caleb pulled himself up a little more and looked at his three friends.

"What the hell happened?" Caleb mumbled, rubbing a sore spot on his head.

"You swam into the pool wall. Not exactly the smartest thing you've done." Tyler joked. Caleb made to stand up, but swayed uneasily on his feet. Reid and Pogue caught his arms and helped him walk over to a bench. Reid gave him the ice pack he had handy, and Caleb put it on his head with a nod of thanks to Reid.

"Chase…he…" Caleb mumbled incomprehensively.

"Chase saved your butt before you drank up the pool." Pogue tried to finish Caleb's sentence. Caleb shook his head and spoke even softer.

"No, his eyes…they were black." Caleb whispered, but he knew the other three had heard him just fine. Their eyes went as wide as possible, and they stood frozen.

"Wait…what?" Reid whispered back to Caleb.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Caleb shook his head. As they spoke, they didn't realize that Anna had moved closer than the rest of the girls in the team. When they finished speaking, she disappeared back to her line and got ready for relay.


	12. Chapter 12

It was Friday night yet again. It had started storming over again earlier that night, but that didn't deter Caleb and Pogue from what they were already doing. They had stuck with their original plans of going to Nicky's, like they did every Friday night. Reid had asked Anna to join him again, and this time she stayed a little later than last time, but still left earlier than everyone else. After Nicky's, the four Sons of Ipswich pretended to go home; but Reid and Tyler knew where Pogue and Caleb were going. Reid and Tyler had both volunteered to go with, but Caleb thought it would be better if Pogue went with. So Caleb and Pogue stood just inside the border fence, which they'd just jumped, and watched for the security guards.

"Are you sure no one is going to see us, Caleb?" Pogue asked, as they ran across the lawn when it was safe.

"Yeah. If they _can_ catch us, then we deserved to be caught."

They hid in a dark archway, and looked around.

"Where's the records office?" Caleb asked Pogue, and he pointed to the west-most building. They had dressed in black, as not to be seen in the shadows. They ran across the lawns, and made it to the building that held all the students records. They jumped the 8 foot gate without stopping, and landed without a sound.

"Now just to find the right place…" Caleb wondered out loud.

"That's easy." Pogue tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to a sign that read _'Records'_. Caleb laughed at himself and followed the signs that pointed to the records room. They found a door that had _'Records'_ written on the glass.

"Well, here goes nothing." Caleb's eyes flashed red to black and the door opened. They saw filing cabinets to the end of the room, packed into small aisles. Caleb noticed that each filing cabinet was arranged by the year that the class was supposed to graduate.

"Look for our year Pogue." Caleb ordered him, and they both walked around the room looking for the senior year class. Caleb found their year, and waved Pogue over. He opened the top drawer of the filing cabinet and searched for Chase's file.

"Ah, got it." Caleb pulled out a folder labelled _'Chase Collins'_. Caleb opened it, and in it were all the records from Chase's school career. There was also a newspaper clipping, which Caleb pulled out and read.

"His parents died on his eighteenth birthday…" Caleb read to Pogue.

"Wow that sucks." Pogue sounded sarcastic as he read over the same newspaper clipping.

"Convenient…on his eighteenth birthday. Wait, his real name is Chase Pope…Pope sounds familiar." Caleb wondered aloud. They heard the gate opening, the one they had jumped just minutes ago. They froze for a second, and stared at each other. They heard the footsteps coming up the stairs right outside the door. Their eyes flashed red to black, and they flew up to the ceiling. A watchman came in, and noticed the filing cabinet they had left open. Caleb and Pogue looked at each other and swore silently, which distracted them for a moment. The papers slid out of Chase's folder and floated down towards the watchman. Caleb noticed, and his eyes flashed red to black, but the papers froze before he did anything. Pogue nudged Caleb, and Caleb looked over at him. He was staring across the room at…Anna. She was in the same precarious situation they were in. Her eyes were black voids, staring straight at them. Her eyes flashed back to normal, and she rolled her eyes at them. They hid their surprise for a few more moments, and observed as the watchman closed the filing cabinet and left, locking the door behind him. They fell from the ceiling and touched down. Anna's eyes flashed from blue to black, and a light blue bubble appeared around the three of them.

"Ok, now feel free to shout at me. No one's going to hear us." Anna stated, gesturing to the barely visible film of light around them.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Pogue asked before Caleb could, but a little more harshly than Caleb would have.

"The same thing you are. Looking for Chase's file." She answered just as harshly.

"Who are you really, Anna?" Caleb asked. Anna slanted her eyes at him and frowned, as if that was a stupid question.

"As if it isn't that obvious now?"

"I'm not blind, Anna. Which covenant are you from?" Caleb asked again. Anna folded her arms at scowled at him.

"The Covenant of Rowley. Now it's your turn, which covenant are you two…four, from?"

"The Covenant of Ipswich." Caleb answered.

"Ah, thanks for the confirmation. But then again, that night at the pub was confirmation enough." Anna unfolded her arms, and put them on her hips. Caleb and Pogue looked at each other, and they both knew there was only one time that she could've been referring to. They looked back at Anna, and she was smiling.

"Yeah, I saw the fight between you and Reid. But now I know we're on the same side." Anna said, calming down a little more.

"The same side?" Pogue asked, slightly puzzled.

"Trust me, we're both _against_ Chase. He's not here for charity, scholarships, or academic achievement like that file says. I've come across Chase before he came to Ipswich, he probably also spotted my name in the _History of Ipswich_ book you both used to find out more about me…" Anna shot them both a glare and smiled.

"…anyway, after that incident, I knew he was up to something, so I found out he transferred here and followed him. But after that incident in the pool, I know it isn't for a family reunion." She finished.

"You heard me talking about him at the pool…wait, not important…family reunion? What do you mean?" Caleb asked, losing track of the conversation quickly.

"Your covenant had five original members. Danvers, Garwin, Parry, Simms and Putnum. Putnum was put to death in the witch trails right? But only after who tried to turn him in?"

"Pope. Goodie Pope? But he wasn't involved in the craft, so how does Chase even know how to…?" Caleb started thinking quickly.

"Ok, I have more theory on that, but not now, we need to get out of here, there are three more guards coming. We can talk tomorrow, maybe at my house."

"Yeah, we'll be there, what time…?" Caleb asked.

"Just call me, my number is in your phone already…" Anna smiled, and turned to the window, making fly open before leaping out of it. Caleb and Pogue shrugged and followed her out the window, making it close silently as they ran off into the shadows.


	13. Chapter 13

"Anna?" Caleb phoned her, standing just outside her gate, but she wasn't there yet. Pogue had come on his bike and Caleb in his car. They both waited at the gate, waiting for it to open.

"Yeah Caleb?" She answered.

"We're here." Caleb rolled his eyes looking at the gate.

"I'll be out in a minute." Anna finished, and hung up. Caleb put his phone back in his pocket and looked at Pogue.

"Girls. They're all the same." Caleb laughed.

"Well, obviously not this one." Pogue joked right back. He sat on his bike, slightly impatient while waiting for Anna. Anna came out the grand entrance of the house and strolled up to the gate, looking at them.

"Ah, well I suppose you guys can't get in." Anna said as she pressed the remote for the gate. The gate opened, but Caleb didn't move.

"Well, the gate _was_ closed." Caleb said sarcastically, and made to walk through the gate. As he placed his foot over the threshold, it was thrown back out with remarkable force and sparks.

"Ah, never mind, I see what you mean." Caleb sounded slightly apologetic. Anna laughed as she walked through the gate and up to the two of them.

"It's a charm I put on the castle to protect it from users of the Power. That includes you two. But it was mainly meant for Chase." Anna stated, and rubbed her hands together.

"Ok, who's up for the first exception?" She asked.

"What's an exception?" Caleb asked Anna sceptically.

"Exactly what it sounds like. The charm is for all users of the Power; the exception charm reverses its effects for certain people."

Caleb shrugged and stepped forward. She took both her hands and placed her index fingers on his temples, and placed her thumbs carefully on the centre of his forehead.

"Ok, this might feel…weird." She grinned.

"Weird? Weird how?" Caleb asked quickly.

"I don't know. I've never had this done on me. But it's said to feel like adrenaline. So here it goes." She kept her eyes open as she looked at him, and her eyes flashed blue, and into black. Caleb felt a hot, dizzying feeling starting in the middle of his forehead, and run down the entire length of his body like warm water. Then it was gone. She pulled her hands away and looked at him.

"Not bad. Well, you can drive in; you can park where you want." Anna shook out her hands as she walked up to Pogue. Caleb drove in, and parked right next to the entrance, and got out again, looking back at Anna and Pogue.

"Come on Pogue, take off your helmet." Anna asked. Pogue stared at her with icy eyes.

"It doesn't hurt right?"

"Well, I didn't take you for a softie. But if it had hurt, I'm sure Caleb would've said something."

Pogue took off his helmet reluctantly and put it on his lap. She placed her fingers as carefully as she did with Caleb, and kept her eyes open. Her eyes flashed from blue into black again, and Pogue felt the same sensation Caleb had felt. Anna pulled away her hands and smiled at Pogue.

"See? Not so bad. Well, you can drive in now, park wherever you want." Anna told him. He drove in and parked next to Caleb's car. Anna walked in after them, closing the gate as she walked up to them.

"Well, here's my house." Anna smiled, gesturing to the castle in front of her.

"Your house? Everyone's been saying that you are just looking after it while the owners are away."

"Yeah, that was a white lie. I don't want people to think I'm spoilt. This was left to me by my grandfather, but I only really had use for it now. So, let's go in, I have got some interesting things to show you guys." Anna pointed to the door and led the way inside. Though the walls were light grey slate inside her home, it was incredibly warm and bright inside. They didn't have much time to look around, as Anna was heading for somewhere with a purpose. They looked around as they walked, but Anna sensed their wandering eyes.

"I'll give you guys a tour when there aren't pressing matters at hand. But right now, we have to go downstairs. It's the only place an outside Power can't sense us." Anna pointed to a closed dark-wood door. As she opened the door, flame torches flickered alight down a long staircase. She went first, and once they were all on their way down, the door at the top of the staircase closed. Caleb and Pogue didn't even think twice about it as they followed her down. The walls started getting warmer, despite the fact that they were heading downwards. The staircase opened up into a vast underground hall probably as big as their school library. More torches flickered alight in the room, and a big fire pit in the middle of the room burst into flame. She pointed to the stone seats around the fire pit for them to sit.

"Ok, we can talk freely down here. There is no possible way of any other Power sensing us down here." Anna said, as she sat down. Caleb and Pogue both looked uneasy as they sat upright.

"You said you've figured out some things? About Chase?" Caleb asked. Although they couldn't see anything, they sensed her magic activate. A book flew out of the darkness and into her hand; it looked to be about three hundred years old.

"Forgive the darkness; I haven't set up all the torches up yet. Anyway, here is what I've picked up on in the missing timeline…" Anna opened the book, with her magic, not her hands, and sent it floating to over to Caleb and Pogue.

"Goodie Pope's wife, Agnes, accused John Putnum of 'bewitching' her to sleep with him. After John's first unsuccessful trial, some suspicion fell onto Goodie Pope for the bewitching of his wife, and he was hung. However, Agnes still had a child ten months and 24 days later. Only nine months after John Putnum was eventually sentenced to death." Anna spoke to the both of them as they read the chapters she had picked out.

"Are you saying that, it could be possible that John Putnum had somehow got her pregnant before he was burned?" Caleb asked, reading the book.

"Entirely. You see after John Putnum's first trial, they thought it was Goodie Pope bewitching his wife to sleep with John, and they let John go free. He was recorded to be spending copious amounts of time at the Pope's house, trying to comfort Agnes. And I think we all know what that means…" Anna nodded at them, and she brought the book back to her own hands.

"So you're saying that Chase is the bloodline of Putnum?" Pogue asked. Anna nodded, and brought out another book. This one wasn't as thick as the last one, but it looked a lot newer, maybe less than a hundred years old. She opened it, and floated it over to Caleb and Pogue.

"This book records all living witches, and their family trees. As you can see Chase's family tree meets up to Agnes Pope and John Putnum." Anna explained, as she pointed out the bloodlines.

"How does this book even work? It's even got us in here, and some others." Pogue asked, looking at pages before and after the one she showed them.

"I don't know; my grandmother made it. It's also one of the many ways that I found out that there will still living relatives of the original Ipswich covenant. I just had to see if you guys learnt the craft." Anna stood up, and took the book away from Pogue, sending it back into the darkness.

"If you knew all this stuff already, why did you have to break into the school last night?" Caleb tilted his head slightly at Anna.

"Like I said, I've come across Chase before, but I just knew that he had learnt the craft. I had to go check those records last night, which is when I started recognising the names and putting things together. This morning, that bloodline book was lying on my dresser with a note from my grandmother saying I should read it again." Anna hung her head and looked away for a moment.

"Now that you guys know, what are you going to do? Are you going to tell Tyler and Reid, or keep it quiet a little bit longer?" Anna asked.

"Well, they knew we went looking for Chase's records. If we don't tell them, they'll suspect something." Pogue answered.

"Maybe we should just say we're still looking into it? They'll believe that, I hope" Caleb answered. Anna nodded and walked over to the both of them and sat on a stone chair between them that came from nowhere.

"But tell us, are you psychic or something? How did you know we looked you up in the _History of Ipswich_?" Caleb asked.

"Well, kinda something like that. I sensed you'd done something like researching when I saw you at the crossroads that night. As the night progressed, and you were feeling more relaxed around Sarah, I could sense pretty much everything." Anna joked, winking at Caleb.

"Ok so let's get the story straight for Reid and Tyler. We're still looking into Chase; we didn't see Anna in the records room; and we didn't come to Anna's house today." Pogue said, standing up. Anna and Caleb both stood up and nodded in agreement with him.

"Ok enough of the seriousness. Let me show you the house; you're going to flip over my games room." Anna laughed, and the lights in the room started dying out one by one. They made their way back up the stairs and dead bolted the door as they left.


	14. Chapter 14

The day had arrived for the swimming competition at Spencer Academy. The bus from the competing school had just arrived, and the team had made their way to the swimming pool. The Spencer swimming team had put in extra hours of training, under Caleb's capable supervision. Spencer's swimming team was already gathered in the pool area, as the other team was using their locker rooms to get changed. School was cancelled for the day, as it was Friday and the competition started at eight. Caleb called the team to gather around him, for a quick speech.

"I hope you all had breakfast, because we're going to need it. Only a few of us will get picked for each event, but they'll announce our names before each event. Don't get nervous, and heaven forbid, don't swim into any walls…"

The entire team laughed at his self-aimed joke.

"If we win this competition, there's a party on the third floor of the guys' dorm tonight. And if we don't win, well, there's still going to be a party. Come on Spencer, let's do this thing!" Caleb shouted, and his team joined in cheering with him, all the way to their side of the grand stand. The first set of events was for the girls, and Kate, Sarah, Anna and one other girl were picked to swim freestyle against the competitors. Spencer's team got up on to the diving platforms, to immense cheers from the rest of Spencer's team.

"Yeah Spencer!" Sarah, Kate and Anna shouted simultaneously, before getting ready to dive. The competition was tight, but Anna placed first and Kate second, and the competitors' top swimmer placed third. They got out of the water and walked to their other team mate's holding their towels ready.

"Well, if this is going to be the competition, we're in for an easy win." Sarah scoffed.

"I wouldn't put it down to just us girls though. Their male swimmers are much better than the women. Just saying." Kate said, before returning to the grand stand. They sat and watched as the guys were called out. Caleb, Pogue, Chase and Reid were called out for freestyle of the men's division. They got up onto the platforms, and the top three spots were won by Spencer. Caleb placed first, Chase second and Pogue third. The rest of the day followed suit, with very few spots being intermittently won by the competitors. The last three events of the day were to be relays, one for the women, one for the men, and one that was to be a mix of the top ten swimmers of each school, with a variety of swimming strokes. Kate, Anna, Sarah and one other girl were picked to swim for Spencer again. Caleb, Chase and Pogue and Reid were picked to swim relay for the men's division. The guy's looked wary to be in the same team as Chase, but they went nonetheless. The men's and women's relays were to be swum at the same time, as to let both teams have equal amount of exertion before the mixed relay. Spencer won both relays, and the teams were resting for a few minutes before the next relay. Spencer's swimmers were already picked and divided.

"Alright, Chase and I will open, and get good time. The rest of you can interchange as you like, but Anna and Pogue should finish up the lot if the time gets too tight." Caleb told the ten swimmers before heading to the diving platforms. The lanes had been made wider for this one special relay, and the teams stood ready to dive. Chase chose to open the race, and Caleb stood next in line. Anna and Pogue stood at the back, waiting for the race to start. As soon as the race started, and Chase was in the pool, Anna and Pogue started talking.

"I can't believe he's acting so cool. I mean, all of us are and hats off to Caleb for his calm demeanour; but Chase is just…a real piece of work." Anna told Pogue standing behind her.

"Tell me about it. The three of us in relay with him were literally just waiting for something to go wrong."

Chase got out the pool, and headed to the bench just behind the line, where the swimmers that had just finished the relay were supposed to sit. Chase high-fived Pogue before sitting down; Anna rolled her eyes to herself, thinking how Chase was so full of himself. The competition was thinning down, and the crowd was going wild. So far, Spencer had only a few spare seconds ahead of the other team. Anna got up on the platform, the second last one to go, and so did the other team's second last swimmer.

"Hey, I'm expecting good time on this one. No half-ass measures, ok?" Pogue shouted at her on the diving platform.

"Yes, sir. What else do you expect from me?" Anna joked, turning around on the podium and moving right to the very edge.

"What are you doing? Don't tell me you're going to…" Pogue sounded frightened, not because of what Anna was going to do, but from losing time.

"Don't worry, I'll nail this, and with some flair." Anna smiled, looking over her shoulder for Sarah to touch down. Sarah touched down bare seconds before the other team, and Anna dove off the podium backwards. Everyone in the crowd let out a massive cry of worry, but when she surfaced, she was doing backstroke in double time to the other team's freestyle swimmer. On the turn, she had more than doubled the distance between her and the other swimmer. When Anna touched down, Reid and Tyler pulled her out of the pool in one sift tug.

"Show off much?" Tyler asked jokingly.

"Gotta put in some of my style somewhere." Anna smiled, grabbing her towel from Tyler. Pogue was putting in more time between him and the last swimmer, and the entire home crowd was shouting for him. When he touched down, a loud buzzer sounded, signalling the end of the competition. A new score lit up on the scoreboard, and Spencer won 68-32. The home crowd cheered, and Spencer's swimming team ran out the grand stand and into the pool area, cheering on the relay swimmers. Reid intentionally walked up to Anna, to congratulate her. Reid hugged her around the shoulders, and she smiled as she pulled back.

"Hey, congrats on the relay. Who knew you could be such a star attraction?" Reid joked.

"Do you mean the show off part? Come on, everyone loves a good show, don't they?" Anna joked right back. Reid hugged her again, before moving on to congratulate the other swimmers.


	15. Chapter 15

The party went off as planned. The third floor of the boys' dorm was packed wall to wall with students, celebrating their first athletic win of the year. The teachers that stayed in the dorm as monitors decided to go out and also celebrate their win. Caleb had arrived a little later than most of the crowd, carrying a large box with him. He put the box on the coffee table in the communal lounge, and then jumped up onto the coffee table. He tore the box open, and then shouted very loudly to get everyone's attention. As soon as the crowd had diverted their attention to him, he started talking again.

"Hey everyone. Thanks for coming to the party, and for supporting the swimming team. Now, as a show of our great prestige today, Coach Lyre has arranged team jackets for Spencer's swimming team!" Caleb cheered, and the crowd joined in. There were no hard feelings held by those that were not picked to be in the swimming team, as they were proud nonetheless that Spencer won the competition. Caleb pulled out the jackets one by one, and showed off the name on the back, before the student came forward and got their jacket. Each swimmer jumped on the coffee table with Caleb, and Caleb congratulated each swimmer as he handed them their jacket. As each student jumped off the coffee table, Caleb egged the crowd on to cheer as they walked away. Anna saw her name come up on a jacket, and squeezed her way through the crowd to Caleb. She jumped on the coffee table and got her jacket.

"Here's to our show off of the day!" Caleb cheered as Anna put on her jacket, and the crowd cheered her on as well. She jumped off the coffee table again, to many pats on the back and congratulations. She made her way to the back of the crowd and smiled to herself. Sarah and Kate hadn't got their jackets yet, so they were standing in the front of the crowd waiting.

"Quite a turnout, isn't it?" Anna heard a familiar voice sneak up behind her. She spun around and saw Reid behind her, smiling devilishly. He had already received his jacket, but he wasn't wearing it.

"Um, yeah. Where's your jacket?" Anna asked quickly.

"Not my scene, I put it away. See you later?" Reid asked, and Anna nodded quickly. Reid disappeared into the crowd; Anna lost track of his blonde hair after a few metres. Sarah and Kate were the last ones to get their jackets and they found their way back to Anna. The music had already started up again and the party was pumping once more.

"Oh my word, Anna, you won't guess what just happened." Sarah sounded excited to say the least.

"Tell me, jeez, don't keep me in such suspense." Anna smiled enthusiastically.

"Caleb just asked me to the Halloween Party! Isn't it just great?" She jumped a little from the excitement.

"That's great Sarah, you two will be adorable together." Anna hugged her for congratulations.

"And what about you, Anna? Reid has been hitting on you for weeks now, and he still hasn't budged?" Kate asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Eh, don't worry about it, Kate. I'm not worried about it."

Kate and Sarah gave each other a sly look and pulled her into the middle of the crowd and forced her to start dancing. Anna gave in and danced with them, for a good solid hour, before Pogue came up to them and whisked Kate away. Sarah and Anna saw it as a chance to catch a breather, and squeezed into the one open space in the communal lounge. Anna and Sarah cracked a few jokes between them, causing them to laugh every now and again. Tyler and Reid were standing in view of the lounge, and were talking between themselves before noticing Anna and Sarah.

"Are you just going to keep on flirting with her, or are you actually going to do something sometime soon?" Tyler asked Reid.

"Aww, come on Tyler. This is the fun part." Reid joked and gave Tyler a nudge.

"Yeah, and if you're not careful, someone else is going to move in on her." Tyler gave him a sly smile.

"Like who?" Reid frowned at him suspiciously.

"Like that guy right there. Look at how he's checking her out."

Reid turned his head quickly to look at the guy Tyler had pointed at, and he was most definitely looking at Anna. Reid shook his head and headed over to Anna and Sarah.

"Hey, can I steal this lovely for a while?" Reid asked Sarah while pointing at Anna, and Sarah nodded enthusiastically. Anna turned to her and gaped for a second; before Reid grabbed Anna's hand and pulled her through the crowd. As they carried on, the crowd thinned out and the music became quieter. Reid put his hands under her jacket and around her waist and spun her around once, and then swayed with the music.

"Have you been feeling a bit left out?" Reid asked, pulling her closer to him, until their legs grazed against the other's with every sway.

"If that's the way you want to put it…" Anna stared at him with a slight smile. Reid lost his words for a little while her eyes were set on him. He spun her around once more so he could get his thinking back for a moment.

"Hey, I want to show you something …" Reid smiled and locked his hand around hers once more. He walked down the dorm hallway until they got to a dark and gloomy part of the dorms. He opened a pair of dark and heavy doors and pulled her inside. He closed the doors again and switched on the lights. Even with the light on, the room still seemed mysterious and haunting, but beautiful at the same time. Anna wandered a little further into the room, staring at the beauty of it.

"Wow, what place is this?" Anna asked Reid.

"It's a formal lounge that the students are allowed to use when their parents come to visit or something like that, although very few of the guys use it for something else."

Anna wasn't paying attention as she looked at the room that was surrounding her.

"Oh ok, well tell me about it." Anna asked absentmindedly. Reid walked up to her and spun her around, running his hands up her jaw and into her loose hair.

"Well, they use it for this…" Reid whispered, as he pulled her closer. Anna's eyes went wide as Reid got closer, but she didn't pull away. Reid held his mouth bare millimetres away from her mouth, for longer than a few moments. Anna's heart was already racing, and she couldn't stand it much longer.

"Come on, Reid…" She whispered to him eagerly. He smiled wide and closed the gap between them and locked his lips on hers. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She kissed back hard, and with more fervour than Reid could've imagined. Anna pulled back slowly and smiled at Reid.

"Ok, well now that you got the message, what's going to happen?" Anna asked.

"Ah come on, just enjoy this for a little while and we'll get back to that." Reid smiled and pulled her closer again for another lip lock.


	16. Chapter 16

Three weeks had crawled by since Spencer's swimming victory. Anna had arrived earlier than usual at school, when only Caleb and Pogue were present on the front steps. She jumped off her bike and headed to the front steps, taking off her helmet on the way.

"Morning guys." She smiled and straightened out her helmet hair.

"Well, morning. Aren't you kinda early?" Caleb asked. Anna sat next to him on the steps, and Pogue leaned forward to listen.

"Yeah, I was thinking of asking you guys to help me out with something. Isn't the Halloween Party this weekend?" Anna asked, looking at both of them.

"Yeah, it's this Saturday. Any reason?" Pogue asked.

"I was thinking of hosting a sort of after party. You'll let people know? Starts at eleven and no costume, no entry. Ok?" Anna smiled and got up, climbing up the stairs.

"Gotta get changed, see you guys in class." Anna waved and disappeared into the massive front doors of the school.

"Well, isn't that generous. I was thinking of asking my mom if I could do it, but Anna obviously stole my idea." Pogue smiled, but acted a tad sour.

"Who cares, any excuse for a good party. Let's just say it's a good starter to my birthday weekend." Caleb smiled and greeted Tyler and Reid as they came up the stairs. Anna was already in the locker room, changing into her uniform. She pulled her uniform out of her bag and looked how many wrinkles her clothes had gathered from the drive. No one was in the locker room at this time in the morning except her, but nonetheless she looked around as she got changed. She slipped off her jeans and jacket and put her shirt on over her vest. She pulled her skirt out next and put it on, before taking out her blazer. It had gotten slightly more wrinkled than the rest of her clothes, but she decided to fix it. She saw the full length mirror a little way away. She put her jeans and jacket in her locker and picked up her bag, before heading to the mirror. She looked at herself, observed the wrinkles, and in a little blue flash of her eyes, her clothes were perfectly straightened. As she turned around, she noticed the door open. Her heart raced as she thought of the fact that the person coming in could've almost caught her. Reid stepped through the now open door and closed it again, catching a glimpse of Anna.

"Good morning, Miss Rainer." Reid smiled as he walked over to her.

"Here again, Reid?" Anna smiled as Reid stepped up to her. Reid put his hands on her hips and smiled.

"Come on, we're still having fun, aren't we?" Reid mused as he put his lips to her neck. Anna gulped as her heart started to race again.

"I guess…but what if someone…" Anna started, but was interrupted by Reid placing kisses on her bottom lip.

"No one's found us yet…and I doubt anyone is coming this way…" He whispered to her, running his open mouth along her jaw. Anna sighed and gave in. She put her fingers through Reid's hair and pulled him up to her mouth.

"If we get suspended, it's your fault." She whispered to him, holding him away from her mouth for a few more moments.

"Even better…" Reid smiled and forced his way to her mouth, kissing her hard. Anna pulled him more forward, until the point that both their lips started to hurt. Anna pulled back with a snap and smiled.

"Hey, the bell just rang…" Anna breathed hard as Reid let her out of his grip. They both made their way to the exit, where no one would get suspicious as the boys' locker room exit was right next to the girls'. They walked out of the passage and into the massive hallway, following the seniors heading to English.

"I'm sure that Caleb told you I'm hosting the Halloween after party." Anna asked casually as they headed to English. Caleb, Pogue and Tyler had already filed in behind them as they headed down the hall. Between the three of them, they were throwing suspicious looks back and forth.

"Yeah, he mentioned something about that. Any reason?" Reid answered as casually as Anna had asked.

"I was just thinking of some outfits to wear. You know, pirate, vampire, nurse, teacher…witch."

Reid's eyes shot open as he shifted his gaze to Anna, and he caught Caleb, Pogue and Tyler's reactions, which was pretty much the same as his.

"A…a witch? That's a…little overdone don't you think?" Reid stuttered out quickly.

"But this is Ipswich, so it's kind of a staple, isn't it?"

Reid gulped hard and thought of something else.

"How about a sexy teacher? That sounded like a good one…"

Anna nodded in agreement as they arrived outside the English class.

"Talking about teacher, you have to help me out with this old English crap. It's so hard to understand." Reid asked, practically begging her.

"It's _Victorian_ English. It's actually quite easy, it's all just metaphorical mumbo jumbo." Anna rolled her eyes at him.

"Ha! Easy my ass. If it were easy, I'd be passing."

"Well, we can change that, can't we?" Anna smiled at him and entered the English classroom. As Anna climbed the steps to her seat, Kate came past her, looking awfully sick.

"Hey Kate, what's wrong?" Anna took Kate gently by the shoulder and looked at her.

"I'm not feeling too good. I'm just headed to the infirmary, take notes for me, ok?" Kate said as she carried on walking, to which Anna nodded. Anna frowned and did a double take before heading to her seat.


	17. Chapter 17

"Hey Tyler, give me the potassium chlorate." Anna asked, holding out her hand. Tyler placed the glass jar in her hand and she carefully measured some of the solid matter into a tube. She lit the Bunsen burner and put it beneath the test tube, and then turned to Tyler.

"Ok, now it's your turn." She smiled at him and then stood back. They were producing volatile chemical reactions for class, and Anna and Tyler got a really fun one to do. They read it from their textbooks as they went, and Tyler went up to the test tube and looked at it.

"I think I'll pick a purple one, should be fun." Tyler smiled as he picked up a purple gummy bear and placed it carefully between a pair of tweezers. The professor's interest was piqued as he headed over to their table and watched. Tyler placed the gummy bear in the tube and the reaction set off, causing loud popping and purple sparks. They both jumped up and high-fived their collective effort to produce three good reactions after one another.

"Well, three great volatile reactions in one class, I'm impressed. I think you've both earned your A's for this term." The professor chirped and picked up his clipboard, about to grade them. Anna and Tyler were both smiling broadly, when the solution started turning black furiously fast. Tyler and Anna took a few steps back, as did the professor. As the fumes started popping, they all ducked and the test tube shattered, sending pieces of glass flying in all directions. The class started erupting in laughter as Tyler and Anna stood back up. The professor's face started going red as he went off at them.

"What do you two think you're doing? This isn't Thermite 101! Explain, now!" The professor shouted at the both of them. Tyler looked to Anna helplessly as she tried to explain.

"Sir, the reaction was not supposed to be _that_ violent. It was only supposed to produce carbon dioxide, water and potassium chloride, none of which cause that reaction." Anna said quickly.

"I know it's not supposed to cause that reaction, Miss Rainer! But it did, and unless you still want your A's, you better give me a proper explanation as to what could've made that happen." The professor fumed again. Anna looked around at the class, all of the students turned back to their own work as she set her eyes on them. She thought quickly about the reactions, and all the chemicals were stable, except for one. She grabbed the packet of gummy bears and showed them to the professor.

"These gummy bears are sour ones. They add some citric acid to the batch to make it sour. Maybe this batch's citric acid was wrongly measured, causing a more violent reaction." Anna said off the top of her head. The professor seemed to calm down a little and graded them anyway.

"Very well, you'll get an A if you clean this mess after class." The professor nodded and walked away. Anna put her head on the table, and sighed deeply. Then Tyler started giggling softly, and she shot straight back up.

"What's so funny?" Anna snapped. Tyler couldn't hold his laughter anymore and started laughing really loudly.

"Your hair…I think you got a little gummy bear stuff in it." Tyler laughed. Anna grabbed a piece of her hair and noticed it was going purple. She gaped and quickly ran her fingers over it, trying to get the chemical out. She paused for a moment when she noticed that her hair had nothing in it. It was her actual hair changing colour. She sat down on the ground, leaning against the bench behind her.

"Hey Tyler, do you have a handkerchief or something?" Anna asked, trying to keep the purple hair away from the rest of her hair. Tyler smiled at her and gave Anna his handkerchief. She started wiping her hair furiously, but she hid her eyes under her long hair and flashed her eyes blue for a spilt second, and with the next wipe it was gone.

"Hey Anna, seems like it's all gone." Tyler smiled, holding his hand out for Anna to get back up. She took his hand and got up, and spun around for one second, and gazed over her class mates. She caught Chase's eyes, who smiled at her devilishly and shrugged with a wave. She turned back around and started swearing.

"That low-life bastard. I'm going to kick his ass if I get the chance." Anna started fuming. Tyler's eyes shot open wide and he frowned at her.

"Hey, what now? Who are you talking about?" Tyler asked.

"Chase, that bastard. I'm going to…" Anna stopped when the bell rang. She and Tyler quickly cleaned the mess that they had made, and then she turned to Tyler when the class was empty.

"Tyler, go get the other three boys and meet me by Eleanor's oak tree." Anna said quickly and went outside without waiting for his answer. Tyler hurried and went to find the other three boys in the cafeteria. They were the only three at the table, laughing about his and Anna's mishap. He smacked Reid over the head and leaned in to talk to them.

"Yeah, laugh it up. Anna wants to talk to us. At Eleanor's oak tree, which she even knew by name…" Tyler said softly. Reid looked as surprised as Tyler felt, but Caleb and Pogue turned to each other with a straight-faced stare. They all got up; heading outside to where they knew Anna was going to be. Anna stood at behind the trunk of the tree, staring blankly ahead of her. Caleb walked up to her and tried to meet her eyes.

"What's this about Anna?" Caleb asked, trying not to catch anyone else's attention. She turned to the four of them and shook her head.

"You all have to know about Chase, right now." Anna started, and Caleb interjected.

"Not here Anna, there are way too many people…" Caleb started.

"He's starting with games, Caleb. It's going to get much more serious. They need to know _everything_…" Anna told him in all seriousness. Caleb nodded silently in agreement, causing Reid and Tyler to feel a little confused.

"What in the world are you guys talking about? Caleb…do you know something about this?" Reid asked. Caleb shook his head and looked around at everyone standing around him.

"Ok, let's meet at the first settlement house tonight at nine. We can talk more then." Caleb announced. Reid looked at little confused and walked over to Caleb and whispered to him.

"Even Anna? Is it _that_ important that she has to be _there_?"

"Oh yeah, she has to be there, Reid."

Reid's eyes went wide and he nodded.

"Ok, we'll be there." Reid agreed, and they all headed back inside.


	18. Chapter 18

Anna had arrived at the first settlement house as Caleb had arranged. Tyler's Hummer and Pogue's bike were already there, and Caleb was standing beside his Mustang. Anna got off her bike and put her helmet on the handlebars. She kept her backpack on, and she looked through the fog towards the ramshackle mansion and then looked at Caleb.

"Well, here's goes nothing. I'm sorry for putting you in this position, Caleb."

"Don't' worry about it, this had to happen some or other time, right?" Caleb grabbed her shoulder comfortingly and walked with her towards the house. They walked across the open field in front of the house and headed for the open basement door. Caleb offered for Anna to go first, but she stood back and let him head down first. They both headed down the stairs and ended up in the warm basement, where the others sat waiting. The basement was much like Anna's, with a fire pit surrounded by stone chairs. Caleb headed to his usual seat, and Reid and Tyler's eyes followed Anna as she headed for the one open chair on the pentagram.

"What is this about Caleb? Why does Anna have to be here?" Tyler asked, sounding wary.

"She'll need to be here, to fill in the blanks if I miss something." Caleb said, looking at both Reid and Tyler. Reid shot a look at Anna and then turned back to Caleb. Anna turned her gaze to Caleb as well and she listened. Caleb's eyes flashed black and a thick, leather bound book floated over to the fire pit, where it stayed for all to see.

"We're here because of Chase. Chase Pope." Caleb started. Reid looked at Anna, to see her reaction, and yet nothing seemed to faze her about this unusual occurrence. Reid kept his mouth shut and listened to Caleb.

"Agnes Pope had accused John Putnum of bewitching her into sleeping with him. After John's first trail, suspicion fell onto Goodie Pope for bewitching his wife into sleeping with John. He was hung shortly after, but yet, Agnes still had a child 10 months and 24 days after her husband's execution…" Caleb said, pointing out each script that he was referring to with glowing red letters.

"Ten months and 24 days? Ok, even I know that's not possible." Tyler stated, and Caleb nodded.

"There were numerous recordings of John Putnum spending profuse amounts of time with Agnes shortly after her husband's execution, even until a few days before his execution. His execution was _nine_ months before her son was born." Caleb finished, and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Are you saying that Chase is Putnum's surviving bloodline?" Tyler asked. Reid noticed that both Pogue and Caleb didn't seem very surprised by the news, or that Anna wasn't at all perturbed by their use of magic.

"Well, Tyler, this book should clarify that out for you." Anna said, reaching into her backpack and taking out the thin leather book she had shown to Pogue and Caleb. Tyler opened it, and Reid leaned over to read it as well. The book was open on the page that contained the five members of their covenant, which included Chase. They followed his family tree upwards and came across John Putnum's name.

"How did you get this? How do you know so much about us?" Reid asked quickly, his temper rising with it.

"Well, that's why she's here Reid, she's a…" Caleb started, but stopped as soon as Reid stood up. He walked over to Anna and looked at her, staring hard into her grey eyes.

"What is it? What was Caleb going to finish that sentence with?" Reid asked, his voice going lower and angrier. Anna stood up and looked him in the eyes, her jaw hard and set, and her eyes flashed blue and into black. Reid stood back, his mouth halfway open.

"What? Are you joking? Is this some kind of prank?" Reid half shouted and half laughed. Anna shook her head, holding her hand open and bringing fire from the pit to her hand, playing with it.

"This isn't a joke, Reid. This is real." Anna scrunched her eyebrows together, forcing herself to look away from Reid. Reid spun around and glared at the other three. Tyler had his mouth hanging open, but Pogue and Caleb were trying to avoid Reid's eyes.

"You two knew about this? You found out that she was _actually_ one of _us_ and you didn't tell Tyler and me?" Reid snapped at Caleb and Pogue, ignoring Anna behind him.

"I'm not like your covenant. I'll explain another day, but that's not important right now; nor is the fact that I didn't tell you…" Anna explained, sounding angry at Reid as she stared at the back of his head. Reid still didn't pay any attention to her; however Caleb and Pogue were now interested in the differences between their brands of magic. Caleb shook his head and turned to Reid.

"It's not that simple, Reid. She caught us using at Nicky's, but we caught her that night we snuck into the school. She was looking for Chase's records as well. We agreed not to tell you and Tyler until it was absolutely necessary…" Caleb stopped when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He took out his phone and saw Sarah's name on the screen. He answered slowly and carefully.

"Hey Sarah." Caleb gulped. The silence in the room was so deafening, that they could all hear Sarah's worried voice over the line. Caleb hung up abruptly, looking straight at Pogue.

"What is it Caleb? What was that about?" Pogue stood up, seeing the worry on Caleb's face.

"It's Kate. They took her to the hospital. They think it's…spiders." Caleb told Pogue without looking at him. Everyone stood frozen, looking at Pogue for a reaction. Without warning, Pogue flew up the stairs and out of sight, causing the rest of them to scurry.

"Dammit! I knew something was wrong with Kate this afternoon; I should've done something about it! I knew his games were going to get serious, but this has gone too far." Anna fumed, stomping her feet at her own stupidity.

"We have to get Pogue back. Just by him being on his own is going to make him the next target." Caleb pressed his phone to his ear, trying to call Pogue, but he wasn't answering. Caleb hung up and looked at the three people that were left.

"Tyler and Reid, you go to Kate. Anna, help me look for Pogue." Caleb ordered them. They fled the basement, the flames going out as the door closed. Anna got on her bike and followed Caleb out, and Tyler and Reid got into Tyler's Hummer and headed to the hospital.


	19. Chapter 19

Tyler and Reid sat in silence as they sped down the road towards the hospital. Reid was tapping his feet furiously on the floor of the Hummer, mumbling angrily to himself. Eventually he started speaking loud enough the Tyler could make out what he was saying.

"Caleb and Pogue knew, so why wouldn't she let us in on the secret? She knew about us, and she knows I…we wouldn't say anything." Reid looked at Tyler for confirmation, and he shrugged.

"Come on Reid, Caleb said it wasn't that simple. They had their reasons for not telling us, and I trust Caleb's judgment." Tyler shook his head, and turned to look at the road again. Reid frowned at Tyler, turning his gaze to the floor between his feet. He sat like that until Tyler's phone started ringing, and he answered the call via hands free over the car's sound system.

"Hey Anna. Found Pogue yet?"

"Hey Tyler. Yeah we found Pogue, but it's not good news." Anna answered, causing Reid to sit upright.

"What happened to him, Anna? Do you think it was Chase?"

"Well, of course it was Chase. You know we can't get injured unless it's by other users, Tyler. And Pogue is pretty badly banged up. Is Reid still with you?"

"Yeah, say hi Reid…" Tyler nudged him, and he didn't respond.

"Reid, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But it was hard, I'm sure you understand that, right?" Anna spoke to Reid, and Tyler tried his best to ignore their conversation.

"Save it Anna, I don't want to hear this now. I'll talk to you later." Reid bit back.

"Well…I have to go, see you guys at the hospital." Anna hung up with out another word to Reid. Tyler turned to Reid and shook his head, before looking back at the road. They pulled up in front of the hospital, standing by waiting for the ambulance with Pogue to arrive. The ambulance arrived after a few minutes, with Anna close behind. The paramedics unloaded Pogue and wheeled him into the emergency room, followed by Reid, Tyler and Anna. They knew it was Chase the very moment they saw Pogue. Pogue often used to hurt himself doing silly things on his bike, but he'd heal himself up in no time. But this time, it was different. He seemed completely _normal_. He lay on the stretcher, unconscious, bruised and battered into a pulp. They were shut out of the emergency room as Pogue got wheeled in. They sat nervously in the hallway in front of Kate's ICU window, waiting for any news from Pogue. An occasional glance was exchanged between the three of them, when Tyler eventually got the nerve to speak to Anna.

"Where's Caleb? I thought he'd stay with you because Chase is targeting people on their own."

"He went to go get Sarah. She seemed pretty beat up about Kate, so I guess he wanted to bring her here to see Kate."

"But he left you on your own, with Chase still out there somewhere?" Tyler asked again.

"I guess Chase didn't want to cause too much havoc in one day." Anna shrugged, before turning her gaze back to Reid. Her face immediately went remorseful, trying to get Reid to budge.

"Reid, I'm sorry about all this, I really am, I just…"

"Really, Anna? Just save it. You obviously don't think Tyler and I are _mature_ enough to handle your little secret, so let's just keep it that way, ok?"

"Dammit Reid, don't be so stubborn! I'm trying to tell you why I couldn't tell you when Caleb and Pogue found out, but you just don't get it! There's a little more at play than just me keeping you and Tyler in the dark!" Anna shouted, standing from her chair and looking down on Reid. Reid leant back in his chair and looked up at her, not backing down. Anna stared at him hard, and blinked once, forcing tears back. She turned to look through Kate's ICU window, without another word to Reid or Tyler. They heard a familiar voice coming down the passage, and Caleb appeared, with Sarah at his side.

"We just saw Chase. He's bargaining with Sarah, Pogue and Kate to get me to will him my Power." Caleb sat Sarah down in an open chair, where she sat looking slightly bewildered. Caleb walked up to Reid, Tyler and Anna, nudging them a little further away from Sarah.

"He's got Sarah in a curse. If I don't do it, she's going to die; they're all going to die." Caleb whispered as to not alarm Sarah. They heard doors open somewhere down the passage, and a stretcher wheeled down the passage with Pogue on it. Caleb, Reid, and Tyler followed Pogue until they were almost in his room, but Anna stayed put at Kate's window. The doctor forbade any visitors for Pogue over the next 24 hours. The boys stood at his room window, while Anna went to sit by Sarah, in an attempt to comfort her.

"Chase is a monster. How could he do this?" Tyler started, shaking his head in frustration. They all kept silent, for an obvious reason. They all knew Chase was a monster; it was just a matter of time until they found out how bad it was going to get.

"He knows I'm ascending this Saturday, that's the deadline for me to will him my Power…after that, he's going after all of us." Caleb announced to Tyler and Reid silently. Anna stood up and joined them, listening in.

"You're ascending? I should've known! But what then what Caleb? You can't will your power away, you'll die and your covenant will be broken." Anna asked, stating the painfully obvious.

"I know that, Anna. I'm still trying to figure things out."

They stood silently, monitoring Pogue's stability before Anna picked up her helmet and made to leave.

"Anna, wait! Where are you going?" Caleb shouted to her as she walked down the hallway. She stopped shortly and turned to Caleb.

"I'm going home. It's quite obvious I'm making _some_ of you tense, so I'll leave before _someone_ snaps."

"Wait, Anna…what if Chase…" Tyler started, but she cut him off.

"Don't worry about it, Tyler. He made his message clear, so he won't try anything else tonight." She turned around again and started walking toward the exit. Tyler and Caleb turned to Reid and frowned.

"What is your problem, Reid? Why are you taking _this_ so personally?" Caleb whispered to him in anger.

"It's none of your business Caleb…I just…never mind."

"What if something happens to her, and then what are you going to do Reid?" Caleb asked again, trying his best to keep his voice down.

"She'll be fine, she can look after herself." Reid answered coolly, staring through Pogue's window again.


	20. Chapter 20

The next day, the mood hanging over the school was grim. The news quickly spread through the school that both Pogue and Kate were hospitalised the day before, and the rumours were already flowing. Caleb and Tyler stood on the front steps waiting for Anna, anxious to see if she was alright. They knew that if something had happened to her, then everyone's chances of survival before Caleb's birthday would be near to none. Reid had disappeared into the school, not willing to wait with Tyler and Caleb. When they saw the silver Mercedes pull into the school's parking lot, they both gave a sigh of relief. Anna got out of her car, looking as glum as rest of the students. But she still hurried up the stairs to greet Caleb and Tyler.

"Hey, how are Pogue and Kate?" She quickly asked of Caleb.

"Same as last night. They're going to stay that way until…"

"Until we get rid of Chase, there'll always be another person for him to get at…" Anna looked away for a moment, before the bell eventually rang. She looked back up at them, slightly sad, and started up the stairs again.

"See you in class." She waved to them before heading up the stairs and towards the first class of the day. Caleb and Tyler hung back for a little while, thinking of what she just said.

"Do you think Chase would still come after the rest of us?" Tyler asked Caleb.

"I have no doubt that he's going to try. But we're going to put him down before it gets to that." Caleb pulled Tyler along, before they were late for class. They walked into the class, and Anna wasn't in her usual seat. She was sitting in Kate's place, next to Sarah, and Reid was two rows further up, watching her with an eagle eye. Caleb and Tyler sat in their usual row, looking back every now and then at Reid.

"What do you think his problem is? I mean _you_ didn't take such offence to Anna not telling you, so why is he so cut up about it?" Caleb asked Tyler without looking at him.

"I don't know. I think that he and Anna have something going on already, but that's just me."

"Really? But he hasn't said or done anything to give that away. But then again, that would explain why he's been so distracted by her lately." Caleb shrugged and took out his reading material. Chase was nowhere, to be seen, which wasn't surprising considering all that he'd done the day before. The day treaded on and on, and come day's end, Tyler, Reid and Pogue headed to the hospital. Anna headed home, to some deliberation from Caleb and Tyler. She arrived home safely, and pulled into her driveway. She opened the garage door and headed down into the basement garage. There wasn't any connecting door to the inside of the house, so she got out of her car, and headed back out the garage door. As she went around to the front entrance of her house, she noticed a figure standing at the gate. She turned to look at the figure when she recognized it. She walked towards the gate and spoke to the figure on the other side.

"Ah Chase, good to see you. Come to get some school notes?" Her voice dripped in sarcasm, while made him smile wildly.

"I always knew it would be handy to have you follow me around, but we both know it's not for the school notes, don't we Anna?" Chase stuck his hands in his pockets, smiling dubiously at her. She wanted to bite back at him, but she was afraid of what he was talking about.

"Oh come now, Anna. I want Caleb's Power, right? So to get to Caleb, I got to his friends. I got to Kate, which led me to getting Pogue as well. So who's next on the list…? Ah, little Garwin. He doesn't have a girlfriend, does he?" He taunted her, which made her snap.

"You leave Reid out of this, Chase! I swear I'm going to put your head on a pyre and watch you burn like your great grandfather should've before he spawned your hellish bloodline!" Anna spat at him through the bars, which made him smile even wider.

"Ooh, that little bite makes me think I found Garwin's girlfriend. If it weren't for the spell you put on this house, I'd already be in there making you beg…" Chase smiled, and in a snap, his hand was around her throat and squeezing as hard as he could.

"I might only be able to get my hand through, and I might not be able to cast magic, but if I hold this long enough, you might end up in hospital with Pogue and Kate." He smiled, squeezing hard. Anna flashed her eyes black, and then something else happened. Her eyes flashed blue again, but the blue plasma moved slowly over her eyes, turning her eyes pearly white as it went. Chase saw his exposed wrist starting to burn; it was already burning to the bone like acid. Chase pulled his hand back through the bars, his wrist damaged as he screamed in pain. He healed himself a little while he could.

"You little brat! How did you get so strong so quickly?" He shouted at her.

"I have my methods too, asshole." She choked out.

"You bitch! I'll get you for that!" He shouted, disappearing in a swirl of dark energy. She sat on the ground, coughing from the tight grip that Chase had on her.


	21. Chapter 21

When the next day rolled around, not much had changed from the previous day. The students were still glum, Chase still hadn't pitched at school, and Reid was ignoring Anna flat out. Pogue and Kate were still in hospital, with no change in either of them. Caleb was still trying to figure out what to do when it came down to him trying to fight Chase off. Caleb, Tyler and Anna were sitting on the school's front steps after swimming practice, observing the empty school grounds. Saturday would be the day to fight or die, and Caleb wasn't sure which one to do.

"Explain this to me again…I know your Power is connected to your life force, but didn't someone in your lineage figure out how to fix that problem yet?" Anna asked, to a mere shrug from Caleb.

"Wow, well that's a tad backwards. There are ways to do it, albeit difficult. Who the hell taught you your craft?" Anna asked again.

"That's not important Anna, point is if I don't figure out what to do by Saturday, we might as well write off the entire Ipswich covenant." Caleb hung his head in his hands out of pure frustration. Reid came out of the large school doors, heading to Tyler's car without him. Tyler stood up and gave Caleb and Anna a shrug and a wave before heading to his car. As Reid and Tyler got into the Hummer, Anna and Caleb could see that they immediately started arguing.

"I just can't understand Reid. Why does he take this whole omission thing so damn personally?" Caleb asked, pointing to Tyler's Hummer, trying to see if Anna would let something slip.

"We shouldn't be worrying about Reid's moods right now, Caleb. Now if there was a way to get some power to pacify Chase for a while, then that would solve everything." Anna tapped her chin deep in thought. Caleb immediately perked up, and looked at her.

"You said the other night that out covenants weren't alike. And you said that there were ways to fix the Power being connected to our life force. Isn't there something _you_ can do?"

"I probably could do something. But, like I said the other night, we don't have the same brands of magic. I can't will my Power away, even though it's not connected to my life force. And I'm pretty sure Chase will kill everyone else if I pitch up there to try and kill him, which I could do if it really came down to it."

Caleb nodded to himself and gazed over at her. She had been wearing a scarf all day, even though it was fairly warm.

"What is up with this? It's way too warm to wear…" Caleb joked, and ripped off her scarf in one fell swoop. He was hoping to see some evidence of her and Reid doing _something_. Anna reached out for her scarf, but not it time for Caleb to see the black marks wrapped around her throat.

"What the hell is that Anna? Did Chase do that?"

"Yeah. He got me yesterday at my house. Somehow he got his arm through the gate and got me. Even though he used his hands, the amount of magic pumping through his blood made it about ten times worse than average. I tried but I can't really heal it much; I should try again a little later."

Caleb shook his head again, and stood up. Anna followed his lead and they made their way down to the bottom of the steps. Caleb gave Anna her scarf again, wrapping it around her neck for her.

"If it really comes down to it, I'll just have to…" Caleb shrugged, losing faith in their planning.

"Don't even think of it Caleb. We'll figure something out before Saturday. If it comes down to it, I'll pitch last minute and kill him." Anna told him sternly. She walked to her car and opened the door before turning to Caleb again.

"If you see Sarah before you go home, tell her I'll be at the hostel later to pick her up."

Caleb nodded and Anna got into her car, starting up and speeding off in seconds. Caleb walked over to Tyler's Hummer, to see what he and Reid were arguing about. As he approached Tyler's window, they stopped arguing and turned away from each other. Tyler wound down his window and looked at Caleb.

"What's the problem, you two?" Caleb asked quickly, to the answering silence from the two of them.

"You should probably both go to the dorms. I'll see you later at the hospital." Tyler and Reid nodded, but Tyler piped up before he left.

"Well, we just have to go into town for some things. You want anything, Caleb?" Tyler asked, starting up his Hummer. As Caleb shook his head and was about to walk away, they heard some far off sirens and turned to each other in worry.

"Where are they heading?" Tyler asked. Caleb perked up his head and listened.

"They just left the hospital; they're heading out of town…towards…" Caleb stopped and looked extremely worried.

"Please don't say they going towards where I think you were going to say…" Tyler said, sounding as worried as Caleb looked. Reid tried to hide the worried look on his face as Tyler and Caleb spoke.

"I'll go check on her; you can go the hospital so long." Tyler said, and reversed out of the parking lot at a speed.


	22. Chapter 22

Anna was driving down the road towards her house, when a black swirl of energy appeared in front of her. She slammed on her brakes, causing her eyes to go black involuntarily. As she passed through the dark energy, she spun her head around to see what it was. She looked in front of her again to see Chase standing in the road, smiling broadly.

"Ah. Not so tough when you're not behind your bewitched castle wall, hey princess?"

Anna made to get out of her car, but her seat belt pulled so tight she couldn't move. Chase then appeared at her driver's side window, smiling wickedly as he bent down to look in her window.

"Chase, you bastard! Let me out of here so I can teach you a lesson!" She spat, sending a plasma ball at his face. He encased her car with a dark energy shield, sending the plasma ball back at her. It hit her square on the shoulder, and she hissed at him as she healed up again. When her shoulder was almost fixed, he laughed, looking at her with a smile.

"Well I _did_ say I was going to get back at you. Here's the plan. In a few seconds, a truck is going to appear on this road. The driver's probably going to spot you, slam on brakes and cause the truck to jack-knife. And well, your car has such a low profile; the roof is going to be totally destroyed. Maybe your pretty little face will stay in tact."

Chase stood up, and waved his hand, causing a mirror like portal to pop up. A black energy seeped into her car, saturating its every molecule. She knew this would be bad if she didn't get out.

"Well, the truck's coming off the interstate, so good luck with that." Chase smiled sarcastically. Anna screamed at him, causing her eyes to start going white again. Plasma bolts started striking everywhere, and Chase disappeared and in a wave of dark energy. Anna struggled against his restraints, but his magic held. She tried to start her car, but it seemed dead. Then she spotted the truck in the mirror portal, and it was heading straight for her. Anna tried to break the restraints with her own magic, but it didn't budge. The truck had hit the portal, and the driver spotted her silver Mercedes as soon as he passed through it. He slammed on brakes, causing the truck to jack-knife. Anna tried to pull forward, to put her head between her knees, but nothing would budge. She closed her eyes and waited for the crash.

Tyler and Reid were on the road to Anna's house when they happened across the scene. The road was barricaded temporarily, and police stood by. Tyler stopped the car, and he and Reid immediately got out, running to the barricade. A police officer stopped them before they came any further.

"Officer, what happened?" Reid asked first, unable to hide the concern in his voice.

"Well, it's kind of mystery. The truck driver says he was on the interstate, and the next minute he saw a silver car in the road, and well…I guess you can see what happened. It's amazing that the driver is still alive…must be that German tech…"

Reid and Tyler looked worried. They looked over at the car, and they knew that there was only one car in Ipswich that looked like that. The jack-knifed truck's cargo container had fallen on top of the silver Mercedes, causing the cab to be flattened. The fire brigade was cutting through the container and car to get to the driver. Another officer came up to them, holding a driver's licence.

"You recognise her? She apparently goes to Spencer as well." The officer asked, holding out her licence. Reid went inhumanly pale, but he had his eyes fixed on the car. Tyler dared to look at the licence, to see Anna's smiling face gazing at him. He shuddered for a second.

"Yes officer. She's a friend of ours."

"Oh…I'm sorry. She's alive, but not conscious. Do you know how we can get a hold of her parents?" The officer asked, ready to take down a number from them. Tyler looked to Reid, but he wasn't paying attention to their conversation.

"No officer, we don't know their numbers." Tyler answered. The officer nodded, and walked off, heading towards the ambulance. They saw someone getting taken out of the car, and onto a stretcher. The stretcher went into the ambulance, and in a heartbeat, the ambulance had its sirens on and screeching towards the hospital. The officer from earlier came back, looking sympathetic.

"She's on her way to hospital, but it doesn't look good. We'll be heading to the hospital to give over her personal belongings. Would you like us to escort you there?"

Tyler nodded, and headed towards his driver's side. Reid still stood frozen, staring at the wreck that was Anna's car. Tyler walked over to him and pulled him away, pushing him into the passenger seat. Tyler followed the police car with its sirens on, not paying attention to Reid. Reid stared at the floor between his feet, breathing shallowly.

"Oh God, Tyler. I've screwed up so bad. I shouldn't have been so fucking angry; it was all for a good reason and I've screwed it all up…" Reid mumbled to Tyler, trying not to distract him.

"I told you it was for a good reason…" Tyler sighed. Reid put his head against the headrest, and gazed out the window. He couldn't believe that he'd barely spoken to her over the last few days, and he knew he might never have the chance again.


	23. Chapter 23

"Reid, we're here man."

Reid looked over at Tyler. He had already come to a halt outside of the emergency entrance, but Reid had not been aware of it. The ambulance had already arrived, and was standing near the entrance. The doors of the ambulance were open, but no one was inside.

"Come on, Reid. Caleb and Sarah have already arrived." Tyler nudged him. Reid looked out the window, and sure enough Caleb's Mustang was already standing in the parking lot. He knew that they were coming to see Pogue and Kate, but they must've seen Anna go in already. He climbed out slowly, and walked down the pathway toward the emergency entrance. When they went down the passage, they came across Caleb and Sarah standing in the corridor between Pogue and Kate's rooms. Sarah's face was buried into Caleb's chest, sobbing softly. Caleb was consoling her, stroking her hair softly. Caleb turned to Tyler and Reid with a straight face.

"She just went in. The doctors say she'll be in there for a while."

Reid put his back against the wall and slid down to the floor. He put his head on his knees and forced his eyes closed, trying to stop himself from thinking about Anna being so badly hurt. Tyler turned to Caleb and pulled him away from Sarah for one moment.

"I think that there _was_ something going on between them. I've never seen Reid act like this. "

Caleb looked at Reid, slumped on the floor with his face on his knees.

"You may be right Tyler. But that doesn't help us now. Anna had a last ditch effort planned for Saturday night, and with her out of the picture, we have very little options left."

Reid started breathing shallowly again, trying to force anxiety from his mind. He hoped to kiss her one more time, to hold her warm body against his, but he knew that with Chase still wondering around, that might not happen.

"She'll be ok, she's just not conscious at the moment."

Reid's head shot up, and he saw the doctor talking to Caleb, Tyler and Sarah. Sarah sat down with a sigh of relief in the chair next to Tyler, but she still looked glum. Reid stood up and walked over to them, only to have the doctor start walking back to the theatre. Reid wanted to follow him, but Caleb threw his arm out in time to stop him.

"Hey, she'll be out in a few minutes. Take it easy." Caleb instructed him, pulling him back towards the chairs. Reid looked around and saw it was already dark outside; the fluorescent lights in the hospital seemed to be the only light in miles. He looked down at his watch and saw that four hours had passed since they had arrived.

"The doctor said she'll get better, but we both know that's not going to happen until we get rid of Chase." Caleb told Reid. Reid's face fell even further from despair, as he slumped into the chair nearest to him. The doors down the corridor burst open, a recovery bed started heading in their direction, with Anna's doctor walking beside it. Reid stood up to see that it was Anna, with all types of machines and cords hanging around her. As the bed passed Reid, he reached out for her hand gently and touched it.

"I'm sorry, Anna…" He whispered to her. The bed carried on moving, and Reid let go. They wheeled her bed into the same room as Pogue. They all went to the window of the recovery room and looked in to see two of their friends, out cold. Sarah looked back and forth between Pogue, Anna and Kate, and started crying again. Caleb pulled her close again and tried to console her. Anna's doctor came back out and spoke to them again.

"You can go in to see them in a while if you'd like. But Kate has to stay in isolation. All that I ask to be gentle and calm when you go in to see them." The doctor greeted them and headed back to the theatre. They stood silently in the passage, with only Sarah's sobs to be heard.

"How could Chase do this? How could he look Anna in the eyes and do this to her?" Reid sighed, looking at Anna through the window. Sarah looked up at Caleb, her face now blank from shock.

"Chase? Why is Reid blaming Chase for this?" She asked, her tears pausing for a moment. Caleb looked at Reid and Tyler, and with a nod from them both, he started to tell her everything. He pulled her over to the chairs and sat her down, kneeling in front of her.

"I'm sure you know of Salem, the witch trials and everything that happened here around that time. Well, the witch trials weren't unfounded; there _really_ were witches around at that time…"

"But Kate…Kate said that was all nonsense. There's no such thing…" Sarah stuttered and Caleb shushed her.

"There _is_ such thing, I'm one of them, and so are Pogue, Reid and Tyler. So is Anna, but she's not in our…_group_. Chase wants us all dead because he wants _my_ Power. He's getting rid of everyone that could've possibly helped."

Sarah sat still, slightly flabbergasted but somewhat intrigued.

"Oh my God. So everything I read about your families is true? Even Anna's? That would explain the spider bites…" Sarah mused as she looked over at Kate's room.

"Yes, Sarah. But you can't tell _anyone_. Otherwise we'll all be international news by morning." Caleb instructed her, grabbing her shoulders firmly and staring into her eyes. She nodded vigorously, understanding what Caleb was asking of her.

"And if you ever see Chase when you're alone, you call me immediately, alright?" Caleb asked again, and she nodded silently.


	24. Chapter 24

The doctor had come back once to check on Anna and Pogue. After seeing that they were ok, but still unconscious, he let them each have a visitor. Caleb turned to Reid, who still looked solemn.

"Would like to go in…for Anna?"

Reid looked up at Caleb, and nodded vigorously. Caleb went in for Pogue, with Reid close on his heels. Reid walked over to Anna's bed and pulled up a chair that was right next to her bed. He sat down and took her hand gently. Caleb stood beside Pogue's bed, and stared down at him.

"Come on buddy, tell us what happened…" Caleb grabbed Pogue's shoulder and his eyes flashed black. Pogue eyes cracked open a little as he looked at Caleb.

"Caleb…I'm still alive?"

"Yeah, barely. Tell us what Chase did to you?"

"He's so strong Caleb, you have _no idea_…I can't remember what happened, I just remember that I would've rather died than lived through that pain…" Pogue closed his eyes momentarily. Caleb let his eyes fade back to normal, and Pogue slipped back into a coma. Reid and Caleb shot each other a worried glance, wondering how bad Chase could get. Caleb stood back with a sigh, pinching his eyes shut from frustration. When he opened them again, he looked over at Anna's bed, to see Reid holding her hand and now staring at her cut up face. Caleb smiled to himself and walked to the door, turning around once more to talk to Reid.

"Hey Reid, I'm going to take Sarah back to the dorms. You can stay for a little while longer, I'll talk to Tyler."

Reid nodded, without taking his eyes off Anna. Caleb went out and spoke to Tyler like he said, while Reid stayed and watched Anna. She had cuts and bruises everywhere, a broken leg, several broken ribs, a broken collarbone and a broken arm. Tyler arrived at the door, looking over to Anna's bed to speak to Reid.

"Hey, Caleb said just a few more minutes and we should go."

"Its fine Tyler, you can go back to the dorms. I'll catch a ride later."

"You sure, Reid? I can stay a little longer, I don't mind…"

"It's fine, but thanks Tyler. I'll see you later."

Tyler nodded silently, and turned to leave. He was just in time to follow Caleb back to the dorms, to set Caleb's mind at ease. Reid sat in silence as he looked between Anna and Pogue. Reid pulled Anna's hand a little closer, and held it gently.

"Oh God, Anna. I'm so sorry. I know I'm stubborn, but I should've listened…" Reid pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed it, hoping she could at least hear him, hoping that she'd forgive him for being so horrible to her for the last few days. He looked around for a second, and in a fleeting moment he hoped that his magic would work on her. He stood up, and his eyes flashed black, then he touched her face gently. Her eyes cracked open a little, and then she opened them fully to see Reid.

"Hey Reid…" She smiled at him, but it looked so painful it was hard to watch.

"Hey you…" He smiled back at her, but he couldn't hide the concern in his face. Her eyes started tearing over the second he smiled back at her.

"I'm so sorry Reid. I know I should've told you…" She started, causing tears to roll down her face and over some cuts on her face.

"Shh, it's ok. I'm the one who should be sorry…I was an ass."

Anna shook her head, with a hidden smile.

"Well, it's not you to apologise. I should take a video…" Anna wanted to laugh, but ended up wheezing in pain instead.

"What happened, Anna? I want to know…" Reid begged her, and sat down on the chair again.

"Chase…he's so strong. I tried, I really did…it just didn't work in time. I could've stopped him, Reid, but that's why he put me out of the game. If I ever hit 18 while he was still alive, he knew what was going to happen…" She stopped suddenly, trying to catch her breath. Reid let his eyes fade back to normal, and Anna slipped back into a coma. He laid his head on the edge of the bed, folding his hand over Anna's before falling asleep.


	25. Chapter 25

Reid woke up in a place he didn't recognise, much to his confusion. He sat upright and looked around, and then the smell of disinfectant filled his nose. He was still in the hospital. He looked down at his hand, which was still wrapped up in Anna's. He gently pulled his hand free from hers, and stood up and stretched. He had hoped it was all a bad dream, but soon realized it was all real. A nurse came in, holding both Anna and Pogue's charts. She smiled at him for a moment while she fixed Pogue's drip.

"You were sleeping so peacefully, the nurses decided to leave you here. But it's about time you got going; you're going to be late for school."

Reid looked at his watch in a flash, and saw the time.

"Thanks, I'll be back this afternoon." Reid nodded to her. He bent down and kissed Anna once more on the forehead and sprinted out the door. While running to the door, he called Tyler who he knew would be on his way to school already.

"Hey Reid." Tyler answered casually, but he sounded relieved to hear that he was alright.

"Hey Tyler, can you come pick me up at the hospital?"

"Ah, so you stayed anyways. Sure, I'll be there in a few."

Reid hung up and paced impatiently in front of the exit. Tyler came screeching up the road and halted right in front of Reid. Tyler unlocked the doors and Reid hopped in,

"Did you even consider coming back last night?" Tyler laughed as he put his foot down and headed towards Spencer.

"I kinda fell asleep, so it didn't even cross my mind." Reid shrugged. He flashed his eyes black for a moment and straightened out his uniform. They pulled up in front of the school just short of the first bell, but that didn't seem to deter the students. They had formed a large crowd in front of the school steps. They had gathered around Caleb, who was getting a load of questions thrown his way. Most of them had to do with the misfortune of his three friends landing up in the hospital over the last few days. Reid and Tyler jumped out of the Hummer and walked over to the crowd, listening in on their conversations.

"Should any of us be taking notes for them, Caleb?" A girl in front of him asked.

"No, it should be fine. The teachers know, and are keeping tabs on what work they're missing."

A hushed flutter of whispers ran through the crowd when one of Aaron's best buddies piped up.

"So, what about the party Anna's supposed to be hosting? I'm guessing there won't be one?"

Caleb eyes immediately fell on Reid, who was standing right behind the guy that had just spoken. Reid snapped and hooked his hand into the guy's collar, pulling him backwards. He turned him around to face him in one swift movement. Reid grabbed him by the collar again and pulled it tight around his neck.

"Are you fucking _serious_? The fucking _party_? They could be fucking dead by Saturday and you care about a fucking party?" Reid shouted at him, almost at the point of lifting him clean off the ground. Caleb ran through the crowd and grabbed Reid's arms, forcing him to put the guy down.

"Reid, come on, I'm sure he didn't mean it like that." Caleb forced Reid's hands free from his collar and the guy stumbled out his grasp, slightly shocked.

"You better not have fucking meant it, asshole…" Reid shouted at the guy, and he quickly disappeared into the crowd. Caleb pulled Reid aside and grabbed his shoulders tightly.

"What the hell was that Reid? I've _never_ seen you act like that."

Reid tried his best to avoid Caleb's eyes, but answered him eventually.

"I don't know, that was just kinda cold, you know…"

Caleb shook his head and led Reid up the stairs. Reid shot Aaron and all his friends a glare, which caused them all to take a step back. Caleb pushed Reid hard on the shoulder and forced him to break eye contact with them. Reid grumbled angrily and followed Caleb to class.


	26. Chapter 26

Caleb, Reid, Tyler and Sarah stood in the driveway of Caleb's house. Caleb hugged and kissed Sarah goodbye, and put her in the back seat of Tyler's Hummer. He closed the door and turned to Tyler and Reid.

"You take her to the dance, and keep your eye on her at _all_ times. Don't worry about me; I'm going to fix this."

Reid and Tyler nodded to Caleb, and shook his hand once more before Caleb headed to his own car. Reid and Tyler jumped into the Hummer, and followed Caleb out the driveway. They headed in different directions, and before long, the wind picked up and brought clouds along with it. Sarah was shifting around in the back seat, fiddling with her dress.

"Caleb's going to be alright, isn't he?" She stuttered, looking out the back window.

"I'm sure Caleb will be fine." Tyler reassured her, looking in his rear-view mirror. She nodded and looked down at her dress again. Tyler shot Reid a side glance, and they both looked as worried as Sarah sounded. They pulled into the school parking lot outside the school hall, and Tyler helped Sarah out the back. They climbed the stairs, and looked back at the gathering clouds.

"Well I can only guess what that means…" Reid said, looking up at the deepening clouds. Reid's cellphone rang, and he answered it in a flash.

"Hey Caleb. Is Chase there yet?"

"No, and I'm guessing that means he's not there either?"

"Nah, I don't think he'd do anything here anyway. There are too many people here already."

"That's good. Is Sarah nearby? I just want to talk to her."

Reid turned around to Tyler, to ask for Sarah, but she wasn't with him. Reid pressed his phone to his leg and turned to Tyler.

"Where the hell is Sarah? I thought you were watching her."

"I swear she was _just_ standing next to you!" Tyler flipped out and went into the school hall to look for her. Tyler came out and shook his head warily. Reid sighed and put his phone back to his ear.

"She's gone Caleb, we can't find her."

"Dammit, I guess Chase really is hell bent on getting her here…" Caleb answered, but his phone cut out before he could finish. Reid looked at his phone screen and sighed.

"Don't do anything stupid Caleb, we need you…"

Lightning struck nearby, causing a power dip. In that moment, Tyler and Reid both heard Anna's voice, clear as day.

"Reid…Tyler…you guys still alright?"

Reid looked at his phone screen again, to see Anna's face sprawled across it.

"Anna? What the hell…? How are you even…?"

"You shouldn't ask so many questions right now, has Caleb gone to meet Chase?"

Tyler stepped up next to Reid and looked at Anna, answering her question.

"Yeah, we just spoke to him, and his phone cut out."

"Damn! Ok, I need you guys to go back to Caleb's house, and talk to his mother, I'll talk to you more in the car." Anna's face disappeared from Reid's screen. They ran to the car and started it, screeching down the road back to Caleb's house. This time Anna's voice filled the car; it wasn't as soft as it was on Reid's phone.

"Am I right in saying that there was another user of the Power in the settlement house that night we met up there?"

Tyler and Reid both looked down to see Anna's face on his GPS screen in the centre console.

"Are you even awake or is this all just a trick?" Reid asked sceptically.

"No, I'm not awake; this is all just some magic. I can't wake up but I can use a little of my magic. I'm amazed I could pull this off. I think Chase might be distracted at the moment. But you didn't answer the question, was there another user at the house _that_ night?"

Reid and Tyler shot each other a gaze; they knew that Chase could've been distracted by Caleb at the moment, but more than that, they knew Anna sensed the _other_ user.

"Yes, it's Caleb's dad." Reid answered her eventually.

"Oh…well that might make this extraordinarily hard. Caleb's mom needs to convince his dad to will him his Power. That's the only way I can see this working out."

Reid and Tyler nodded. They knew Caleb wouldn't like the idea, but his mother would do anything for him, as would his dad.

"Ok, we'll do it. They'll be evenly matched then." Tyler nodded to Anna and she smiled.

"Well, if it keeps going the way it is, Chase might be distracted enough for me to do something to stop him if they're too evenly matched."

Tyler and Reid felt a rush of adrenaline run through them, and they gazed at the time on the GPS over Anna's head.

"Happy birthday Caleb…" Reid mumbled, looking in the direction of the first settlement.

"Did it just happen? Is Caleb ascending?" Anna asked, catching the looks on both of their faces.

"Yeah, we just got the weirdest feeling. I guess that's for the rest of us to know its happening." Tyler answered.

"I guess. I know that having Caleb's dad will his power to him is going to upset him, but I'll figure out something for the rest of you, so this won't ever have to happen again."

Tyler and Reid nodded, and they screeched up the driveway to Caleb's house. Anna's face was still on the GPS as they got out the car. Within a few seconds, they were back in the car.

"What happened? Surely you couldn't have been that quick?" Anna asked, looking between the two of them.

"No, she's not here. We think she might've caught onto you idea before you did."

"Oh, well I know it's going to be hard. You two, please head back to the dance. Stay around people, and be sure to be seen." Anna told them both, and then she flickered off the screen. They headed back to the dance, and waited for any more news to come their way.


	27. Chapter 27

Chase and Caleb were already at each others throats. Caleb had just reached the end of his ascension, and Chase was taking the chance to get back at him. Caleb was wrapped up in Chase's magic binds that held him clear off of the ground.

"Ooh, so now you've finally peaked. Not as appealing as it's made out to be; is it, Caleb?" Chase seethed and wound the binds tighter around Caleb. Caleb didn't scream out in pain as Chase expected, instead he fought against it.

"Don't be so foolish Caleb. I'm still more powerful than you anyway. I've got a one up on you essentially." Chase laughed and threw Caleb against the barn wall, sending him straight through it and into the pouring rain outside. Caleb landed in a wagon filled with hay, but shot right back up. Caleb concentrated magic into a tight ball and sent it flying at Chase. Chase deflected it and it headed into the barn, spreading the fire that he had made around Sarah's floating body.

"Oh no, now what Caleb? Your girlfriend might _actually_ die now…" Chase taunted.

Caleb paid little attention to what Chase had said. He felt an eerie presence of more magic; magic he recognized. He gazed up for one second and saw clouds swirling above his head, to meet in a vortex flashing with lightening. Chase looked up at the clouds as well, looking slightly worried.

"What are you doing, Caleb? I've never seen this before…"

"Well, don't you sound worried? And you should be…"

Caleb knew in a moment what was happening, and he knew he'd never see his dad again. Caleb formed another tight ball of magic, and waited for the magic to strike. He felt the magic hit him, and in one second, the magic he held was so powerful it got away from him. It hit Chase square in the chest, sending him flying back towards the barn, but before he hit he disappeared into a vortex. Caleb didn't hesitate or wait for the shock to hit him; he rushed into the barn and got Sarah before it was totally engulfed in flames. He put her down in the same wagon that had braced his fall earlier, and sat down next to her to take a breather. His phone rang, and he rushed to answer it. It was Reid, checking up on him.

"Hey Reid."

"Caleb? Are you alright? Is it over?"

"Yeah, it's over. Thank God." Caleb sighed.

"Good. Tyler and I are heading to the hospital to check on the others. See you later."

Caleb hung up, but before he put his phone away, Anna's face appeared on his phone. He looked slightly perplexed; as he was sure he didn't accept a video call.

"Anna? Are you guys awake?" Caleb frowned, looking at his screen.

"Yeah, finally. So tell me, did it work?"

"Did what work?"

"That vortex? It's quite handy, isn't it?" Anna smiled up at him.

"That was you? So your last ditch effort came through anyway…thanks." Caleb smiled from relief.

"Anytime, Caleb. I guess Chase was a little distracted, so I could make one just in time."

Caleb nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, that's a good thing. We'll see you in a few. The fire brigade is on its way here, so we'll come to the hospital straight after."

"Sure thing Caleb. See you in a few." Anna smiled and her face disappeared off the screen. Caleb turned around and saw Sarah moving around, and she sat up to look at him. She leant forward and hugged him tightly, brushing her lips over his cheek.

"Caleb? Are you alright? Where is Chase?"

"It's all over Sarah. Chase is gone."

Sarah pulled him tighter into their hug before releasing him suddenly.

"The others? Are they alright?"

"Yeah, they're awake. We can go see them in a few minutes."

Just then, the fire brigade's siren broke the silence as they cut through the clearing and drove up to the barn. Caleb stood up and went to go speak to the firemen, and then took Sarah to his car. He put her in the passenger seat and went to the driver's side, fixing the windshield as he walked in front of the car. He got in and they headed to the hospital.


	28. Chapter 28

Reid and Tyler screeched down the road toward the hospital. Tyler let Reid drive, as he was frantic to see what was happening with their friends. They hadn't seen or heard from Anna after she told them to head back to the dance, which had both of them a little worried. They came to an abrupt stop outside the hospital doors, and they both jumped out as soon as the engine died. As they walked to the door, they saw Caleb's car parked a few meters away from theirs.

"Thank God it's all over." Tyler whispered to Reid as they ran in the emergency doors. They saw Caleb and Sarah standing in the hallway between their friends' two rooms, smiling happily while hugging each other. Tyler and Reid ran up to them, hugging them both simultaneously.

"Everyone's awake. They just got a check up, so we can go in and see them." Sarah said with a glorious smile. Reid didn't hesitate, as he went in first and headed straight to Anna's bed. They were both sitting upright in their beds, looking happy that their ordeal was over.

"Hey Reid…" Pogue greeted him, but Reid just gave him wave and carried on walking.

"Morning Reid." Anna smiled at him. Reid came to a halt next to her bed, and put his hand on her cheek. The next moment; his lips crashed into hers, causing silence to fall over everyone. He pulled away slowly, with a sly smiled on his face.

"Reid? When the hell did this happen?" Pogue asked, sounding shocked to say the least.

"Oh, well _this_ has probably been going on for a while. Just _how_ long, is another story." Caleb joked, just walking in the door with Sarah and Tyler. Reid stood up straight and looked at the others all smiling slyly at him.

"Aw, come on. All of you expected it, don't be so surprised." Reid clicked his tongue and sat on the available chair next to Anna's bed. The rest laughed at him as his cheeks started to flush red.

"Hey, your cuts aren't healing up. Neither are yours, Pogue. Can't you guys fix them?" Tyler asked, sounding a little worried.

"Yeah we can, we just thought its best not to. The whole school probably knows about us already, and it would be weird if we pitched back at school completely fine." Pogue answered, seemingly happy with his battle scars.

"And Kate's bites would've clearly up _naturally_ already, if they were _normal_ spiders." Anna added.

Kate appeared at the door, wearing her robe that Sarah had brought her, and she walked over to Pogue's bed.

"Hey handsome. I heard you were in here too. What happened?" She asked, perching herself on the edge of his bed.

"Ah, nothing. I guess my bike finally decided to get back at me." Pogue smiled, lifting his head to kiss her. Kate then turned to Anna, and frowned.

"You too? Don't tell me you crashed into him? I know you don't get on, but…" Kate started.

"No, I don't think I would be able to do that anyway. It was a separate accident altogether. I crashed into a truck, and its cargo didn't like my car much."

Kate nodded, and then caught sight of Reid holding Anna's hand.

"Ah, so you two did finally get it together. I knew it; just remember what I told you though, Anna…"

"Most unpredictable guy in the group, but he does grow on you…" Anna smiled, reiterating Kate's words, which made Reid smile.

"Yeah, you bet your ass I'm unpredictable…" Reid said proudly, standing up and kissing Anna again. Wolf whistles erupted from the guys, and the girls started cooing. Reid pulled back, red spots in his cheeks.

"Come on! Shut up guys!" Reid shouted at them, which started another bout of teasing.

* * *

**And so we reached the end of "Black Magic". I hope you guys picked up all the little _hints_ of Anna's covenant and their magic, because there might be a sequel in the works if I have the time. Also, you might have noticed any spelling mistakes or stuff of the like, you may note me with the offending words. :D**

**I appreciate all the love, reviews are much appreciated if you have the time.**

**X**


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